A.P. Møller
Danish shipping magnate · 1876–1965
Danish businessman who founded the Maersk group, now among the world's largest container shipping companies.
Arnold Peter Møller was born in Dragør, Denmark, the son of ship captain Peter Mærsk Møller. In 1904 he co-founded the Steamship Company Svendborg with his father, and in 1912 established the Steamship Company of 1912. Together these firms formed the basis of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group.
Over the following decades he expanded the business into tankers and liner services, and later into oil exploration in the North Sea, building Maersk from a small Danish firm into a major international shipping concern.
In 1953 he set up a charitable foundation supporting cultural, scientific and social causes in Denmark. He passed leadership of the company to his son, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, and died in 1965. The group he founded remains one of the world’s leading shipping and logistics companies.
Quotations
Selected works
A private letter of guidance from A.P. Møller to his son on running the family shipping business with foresight and diligence.
A letter to the management of the Lindø shipyard, applying the principle of "rettidig omhu" (constant care) as a standard for running the new yard.