Hans Holm, Hans Theobald Holm

Hans Theobald Holm

CEO 1933 – 1942

During a board meeting held in September 1932, a unanimous decision was made to employ Hans Theobald Holm as Ericsson’s next president. As an engineer and technician, Holm had no experience of the telephone industry, but his ability to rationalize operations and strengthen organizations was to his advantage. This was needed at Ericsson, which at the time was suffering from severe financial problems as a result of the ’Kreuger crash’.

It was Marcus Wallenberg, owner of Stockholms Enskilda bank, who hand-picked Holm for the job. Without Holm, who had his unconditional support, Wallenberg was not willing to let his bank continue to finance Ericsson. Johan Grönberg, who was president at the time, was forced to resign in favor of Holm, who was president of Bofors.