Novo Holdings
Legal name: Novo Holdings As
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 980571483
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Hellerup, Denmark
- Phone
- +45 3527 6500
- Rating
- 40
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Philanthropy, Voluntarism, and Grantmaking Foundations N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,542,774,981
- Expenses
- $277,559,658
- Assets
- $36,173,313,408
- Liabilities
- $8,222,237,255
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KASIM KUTAY (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- KASIM KUTAY (CEO): $7,125,236 total reported compensation
- LARS REBIEN SORENSEN (CHAIR): $672,365 total reported compensation
- NIGEL KEVIN GOVETT (CFO): $626,661 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
What it reported doing in 2024
Novo holdings a/s (nh) manages nnf's endowment with the aim of generating attractive long-term returns in order to ensure that nnf has the resources necessary to support its scientific, humanitarian, and other social welfare grantmaking programs, thus improving people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Investment-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The program-spending lines do not add up, so the filing cannot show reliably whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
MIXED - Program spending has grown recently and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 17
- Transparency & Controls: 58
- Accountability: 32
- Sustainability: 88
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 6.5%; rating input score 7
- Program expense ratio: 38.5%; rating input score 39
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 92.2%; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 130.33; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 22.5% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 10 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 6.5% of revenue deployed · 38.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $107M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $7.1M · 11 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 528 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 7/100.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 39/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.