Owning the World's Best Restaurants as a Billionaire Hobby — Lars Seier

You've heard of Michelin star restaurants, and you may even have eaten at some of them. And today, you'll meet a person who owns two of the BEST among them – as a hobby.

Lars Seier Christensen is a Danish billionaire, who was the Founder and CEO of Saxo Bank. But while he's most well known as an industry leader in finance and technology, he's also a man of refined tastes who owns many lifestyle businesses on the side, from football clubs to aqua parks, as well as two of the best restaurants in the world: Geranium (3 stars) and Alchemist (2 stars), both in Copenhagen.

Lars and I talk at length about elite Michelin restaurants, the controversies surrounding them, as well the larger landscape of different kinds of "luxury." We hold nothing back, and as always, I promise you won’t find a more insightful conversation like in this episode anywhere else:

0:31: How his restaurant deals with having 35,000 people on its waiting list
1:51: Lars' portfolio of luxury and entertainment businesses
4:00: Lars' philosophy on choosing people to work with, and who he considers the funniest person he's ever worked with
7:55: Why Michelin restaurants are more value for money than other luxury experiences
16:11: The pressure of earning and keeping stars, and why some chefs refuse them
22:05: Why Lars didn't allow a single employee to be laid off during the pandemic
25:00: The financial struggles of great restaurants
30:01: The different tiers of the "luxury" market, and Lars' view of empire builders like Robuchon and Ducasse
37:34: The challenge of differentiating yourself from other high-end restaurants
43:00: Why you'll never find a Michelin restaurant deal on Groupon
49:10: Lars' opinion of food critics
52:00: How Lars is very different from most restaurant investors

*At 35:10, Aman mixes up the names of Alain Passard and Alain Ducasse (they're both famous French chefs)

For the full episode and transcript, visit https://aman-agarwal.com/ecceo