The line is attributed to A.P. Møller and is usually read as expressing his view that money was a means rather than an end – capital to be reinvested and put to productive use rather than accumulated for its own sake.

This fits the broader picture drawn in biographical accounts, which describe Møller as a cautious and analytical businessman who expanded his firm well beyond shipping. In seeking the Danish oil concession granted in 1962, he was reported to have been motivated partly by a wish to keep the rights in Danish hands rather than by immediate commercial gain.

Taken on its own, the remark is often quoted more generally as a statement about wealth: that its value lies in what it is used to build rather than in its accumulation.