The company’s A shares are not listed and are held by Novo Holdings A/S, a Danish public limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

The Foundation has a dual objective: to provide a stable basis for the commercial and research activities conducted by the companies within the Novo Group (of which Novo Nordisk is the largest), and to support scientific and humanitarian purposes. According to the Articles of Association of the Foundation, the A shares cannot be divested.

As of 6 November 2023, Novo Holdings A/S also held a B share capital of nominally DKK 19,018,300. Novo Nordisk’s A and B shares are calculated in units of DKK 0.10. Each A share carries 100 votes and each B share carries 10 votes.