Board and management of Northvolt AB

analysisNorthvolt's 2022 and 2023 annual reports state that the board of Northvolt AB consisted of eight members and that, because the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance did not formally apply to the unlisted company, Northvolt had no formal nomination committee: the board members were nominated jointly by Northvolt's founders and by each of Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs under an agreement between the shareholders. The reports name the nominating shareholders only as Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs, without naming the holding entities within those groups. The 2022 report lists the board with each member's year of election: Jim Hagemann Snabe (spelled Hageman in the annual reports; chair, 2022; chair of Siemens, former CEO of SAP), Carl-Erik Lagercrantz (vice chair, 2016; chair of Polarium and vice chairman of H2 Green Steel), Michael Bruun (2019; formerly multiple executive roles at Goldman Sachs), Susanna Campbell (2018; director of Kinnevik, Indutrade, H2 Green Steel and Estrid Studios, former CEO of Ratos), Barbara Frei-Spreiter (2022; executive vice president Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric), Tom Johnstone (2018; chair of Collegial, Combient and Husqvarna, former president and CEO of AB SKF), Jürgen Rittersberger (2021; member of the Board of Management of AUDI, formerly in executive roles in the Volkswagen Group including executive vice president of Porsche and of Volkswagen) and Peter Carlsson (2016), who was also the CEO and attended committee meetings in that capacity. ^{1 2}

analysisThe 2022 report also records how the board changed that year. Co-founder Paolo Cerruti stepped down from the board on 30 September 2022 and director Sébastien Gagnon on 23 December 2022, while Snabe and Frei-Spreiter were appointed, with Snabe as chair, as part of a long-term strategic initiative to ensure a more independent board. An extraordinary general meeting in December 2022 appointed new board members, and both became board members on 23 December 2022, Snabe having attended earlier meetings as an observer. In a letter in the same report as former chair, co-founder Carl-Erik Lagercrantz states that Snabe was elected as the new chair in December 2022 and that Lagercrantz continued as vice chair. For Gagnon, Swedish registry records reproduced by a business-information service give a board exit date of 2025-04-29, which conflicts with the report's account. ^{2 3}

analysisThe 2023 annual general meeting elected Sven Fuhrmann as a new board member, replacing Jürgen Rittersberger, and re-elected the remaining seven board members and Northvolt's auditor. The 2023 annual report lists the board as Snabe (chair, 2022; chair of Siemens), Lagercrantz (vice chair, 2016; chair of Polarium), Bruun (2019; formerly multiple executive roles at Goldman Sachs), Campbell (2018; former CEO of Ratos), Frei-Spreiter (2022; executive vice president at Schneider Electric), Johnstone (2018; chair of Collegial, Combient, Husqvarna and Wärtsilä, board member of Investor), Fuhrmann (2023; senior executive vice president leading Volkswagen's Global Investment Group, formerly senior partner at Deloitte and chief restructuring officer at MAN Truck & Bus SE) and Carlsson (2016). ¹

analysisSwedish company registry records reproduced by a business-information service list these departures from the board of Northvolt AB in the three years before the page's last update on 2026-07-10: Michael Bruun (registered as Michael Specht Bruun) on 2024-07-08, Jim Hagemann Snabe as chairman and board member on 2024-07-29, Sven Fuhrmann on 2024-11-22, Carl-Erik Lagercrantz on 2025-03-14, Susanna Campbell (Susanna Margareta Campbell) on 2025-03-24, Peter Carlsson (Peter Mikael Carlsson) on 2025-04-25, Sébastien Gagnon on 2025-04-29, Tom Johnstone (Thomas Calderwood Johnstone) on 2025-05-05 and Barbara Frei-Spreiter on 2026-07-10. These are registered exit dates, and the same page shows no currently registered board; for Gagnon, the 2022 annual report instead gives 23 December 2022 as the date of stepping down. An online encyclopedia article likewise lists Snabe as chairman of Northvolt's board from 2022 to 2024. Johnstone signed as chairman in December 2024: Northvolt AB's engagement letter with N.M. Rothschild & Sons Limited and Rothschild & Co US Inc., dated as of 16 December 2024 and addressed to Tom Johnstone as chairman of Northvolt AB, retained Rothschild & Co as financial adviser and investment banker to Northvolt AB and its affiliated debtors, superseding a prior agreement of 13 November 2024, and Johnstone signed it on their behalf as Chairman of the Board on 17 December 2024. The letter is filed as Exhibit 1 to the revised proposed retention order (Document 393-1, 7 February 2025); the debtors' application to retain Rothschild had been filed on 20 December 2024 (Docket No. 203). ^{1 2 3 4}

analysisA Swedish news report published on 11 November 2024 said that Sven Fuhrmann, Volkswagen's head of investments and until then its only representative on Northvolt's board, where Fuhrmann had sat on Volkswagen's mandate since the previous year, had asked to leave the board. A Northvolt spokesperson said the company expected a replacement from Volkswagen and was in dialogue with it, and a Volkswagen spokesperson was quoted as saying the decision had no effect on Volkswagen's shareholding in Northvolt. The registry records show Fuhrmann's exit from the board of Northvolt AB on 2024-11-22. ^{5 1}

analysisSources disagree on when Sébastien Gagnon, a managing director within Goldman Sachs Asset Management who joined Goldman Sachs in 2013, left the board of Northvolt AB. Northvolt's 2022 annual report says Gagnon stepped down on 23 December 2022; the registry records reproduced by a business-information service show Gagnon's exit as board member on 2025-04-29; and a biography reproduced by a professional-profile service from the website of GridStor, dated 25 May 2026, still describes Gagnon as serving on the board of Northvolt AB. None of the sources explains the difference, the records reviewed do not establish which date marks the end of the directorship, and the third-party biography is not a registry record. Northvolt's 2022 governance report says that during 2022 Paolo Cerruti and Gagnon resigned and Jim Hageman Snabe and Barbara Frei-Spreiter were appointed as part of a long-term strategic initiative to ensure a more independent board, and the 2023 annual report lists eight board members of Northvolt AB without Gagnon; the registry page, last updated on 2026-07-10, shows no currently registered board. ^{6 2 1}

analysisBoth annual reports list Peter Carlsson as chief executive officer and co-founder, a member of the executive management team from 2016. The 2022 report lists, with the year from which each is shown as a member, Paolo Cerruti (chief operating officer, co-founder, 2016), Emma Nehrenheim (chief environmental officer, 2017), Sami Haikala (chief development officer, 2022), Alexander Hartman (chief financial officer, 2016), Daniela Maniaci (chief people officer, 2023), Fredrik Hedlund (vice president cell operations, 2017), Christofer Haux (vice president automotive & foundry and CEO of Northvolt Germany, 2019), Patrik Andreasson (vice president strategy, 2021), Barbara Thierart (president battery systems, 2023), Maria Åstrand (vice president active material, 2021), Anders Thor (vice president communications & public affairs, 2023) and Cecilia Swolin (general counsel, 2023). In the 2023 report Cerruti appears as CEO Northvolt North America, Nehrenheim as president BU Material, Haikala as SVP research & development, Hartman as chief finance officer, Hedlund as SVP expansions, Haux as SVP business development and CEO Northvolt Drei, Andreasson as chief strategy officer and Thierart as president BU Systems, with Maniaci still chief people officer; Åstrand, Thor and Swolin are not listed, and Dennis van Schie (chief supply chain officer, 2023) and Mark Duchesne (SVP Ett operations and CEO Northvolt Ett, 2024) are added. ^{1 2}

analysisThe 2022 report gives the background of chief financial officer Alexander Hartman as investment professional at Altor Equity Partners and at Goldman Sachs, Investment Banking Division, and describes Christofer Haux, vice president automotive & foundry, CEO of Northvolt Germany and member of the executive team since 2019, as having held various management positions in the Atlas Copco Group, including managing director of Atlas Copco Desoutter Germany, and as a former CEO of NCS AB. ¹

analysisMedia reported on 20 November 2024 that Mark Duchesne, head of Northvolt Ett, had stepped down the previous month, October 2024, and had been replaced on an interim basis by Angeline Bilodeau, vice president of Northvolt's operations in North America. Swedish company registry records reproduced by a business-information service show Duchesne leaving the post of external managing director (extern verkställande direktör) of Northvolt Ett AB on 2024-11-21, later than the departure month reported by media, and do not explain the difference. Media also reported in November 2024 that Northvolt had filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States the previous week and that chief executive Peter Carlsson had stepped down; the registry records show Carlsson leaving the post of verkställande direktör (managing director) of Northvolt AB on 2024-12-17 and the board of Northvolt AB on 2025-04-25. ^{1 2 3 4}

analysisOther registered posts at Northvolt AB ended in the first half of 2025. Swedish company registry records reproduced by a business-information service show Paolo Cerruti leaving the posts of chairman and board member of Aurora Lithium AB on 2025-02-10 and of external authorised signatory (extern firmatecknare) of Northvolt AB on 2025-02-20. Matthias Arleth, whom Lyten's press release of 27 February 2026 on completing its acquisition of Northvolt Ett, Ett Expansion and Northvolt Labs quotes as CEO of Lyten Sweden, had been a board member of Northvolt Ett AB until 2025-03-31, chairman and board member of Northvolt Labs AB until 2025-04-01 and an external authorised signatory of Northvolt AB until 2025-04-11, according to registry records reproduced by business-information services; one such service showed no current Swedish company engagements for Arleth when captured. On 2025-04-11 Pia Alexandra Aaltonen-Forsell also left the post of external managing director (extern verkställande direktör) of Northvolt AB, according to the registry records. ^{5 6 2 7 4 8}

analysisThe first-day declaration filed in the Chapter 11 cases, dated 21 November 2024, states that Northvolt decided to appoint two independent and disinterested directors with experience of similar distressed situations, and that Northvolt Ett AB appointed Paul O'Donnell to its board of directors. Media had reported on 20 November 2024, citing a company spokesperson, that Northvolt had appointed O'Donnell, a restructuring expert, to oversee its main battery-cell plant in northern Sweden as chairman of Northvolt Ett AB. Registry records reproduced by a business-information service show O'Donnell leaving the posts of chairman and board member of Northvolt Ett AB on 2025-04-01. The declaration also states that Northvolt AB would in the near term appoint Stefan Selig, who was then serving as an adviser to its board of directors. That was an intended appointment: the Swedish registry extracts reviewed do not list Selig among Northvolt AB's registered or former directors, and whether the appointment was made is not documented in the records reviewed. An online encyclopedia article on Stefan M. Selig, which also refers to Selig's advisory work on Northvolt's 2024 bankruptcy, states that Selig served as US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade from June 2014 to June 2016, a former public office with no stated connection to Northvolt. Screening-list classifications of the same name are not published. ^{1 2 3 4}

analysisSwedish company registry records reproduced by a business-information service show Peter Carlsson leaving the boards of Northvolt group companies in 2024 and 2025: as chairman and board member of EcoDC 2 B1B2 AB and board member of Aurora Lithium AB on 2024-08-12; as chairman and board member of Northvolt Fem AB on 2024-08-28 and of Northvolt Revolt AB on 2024-09-07; as chairman of Northvolt Ett AB on 2024-11-21 and board member on 2025-01-20; as chairman of Northvolt Systems AB on 2024-12-09 and board member on 2024-12-17; and as chairman and board member of Northvolt Labs AB on 2025-01-20 and of Northvolt Ett Expansion AB on 2025-02-25. The service shows Northvolt Ett AB, Northvolt Ett Expansion AB, Northvolt Labs AB, Northvolt Systems AB, Northvolt Revolt AB and Aurora Lithium AB in konkurs (bankruptcy), Northvolt Fem AB in likvidation (liquidation) and EcoDC 2 B1B2 AB as active. Carlsson also left the boards of the former Northvolt property companies, now registered as Lyten Labs Fastighetsförvaltning AB (2024-12-27), Lyten Ett Fastighetsförvaltning AB (2025-01-16) and Lyten Ett Expansion Fastighetsförvaltning AB (2025-03-07), and of the NOVO Energy joint-venture companies NOVO Energy AB (2025-03-26) and NOVO Energy Production AB, NOVO Energy PropCo AB and NOVO Energy R&D AB (2025-03-27); the service shows Lyten Ett Expansion Fastighetsförvaltning AB in likvidation (liquidation) and the other companies as active. ¹

analysisThe same records show Alexander Hartman (registered as Hans Filip Alexander Hartman) as board member of EcoDC 2 B1B2 AB until 2024-08-12, Northvolt Fem AB until 2024-08-28, Northvolt Revolt AB until 2024-09-07 and Northvolt Ett AB, Northvolt Ett Expansion AB, Northvolt Labs AB and Northvolt Systems AB until 2024-09-26, and as deputy board member (styrelsesuppleant) of Northvolt Systems AB until 2024-12-17, Lyten Labs Fastighetsförvaltning AB until 2024-12-27, Lyten Ett Fastighetsförvaltning AB until 2025-01-16, Northvolt Ett AB and Northvolt Labs AB until 2025-01-20, Northvolt Ett Expansion AB until 2025-02-25 and Lyten Ett Expansion Fastighetsförvaltning AB until 2025-03-07. Fredrik Hedlund (registered as Claes Fredrik Ivar Hedlund) was board member of EcoDC 2 B1B2 AB until 2024-08-12, Northvolt Fem AB until 2024-08-28 and Northvolt Ett AB until 2024-11-18, board member of NOVO Energy AB, NOVO Energy Production AB, NOVO Energy PropCo AB and NOVO Energy R&D AB until 2024-12-16, and board member and managing director (verkställande direktör) of Northvolt Ett Expansion AB until 2025-01-10. ^{2 3}

analysisChristofer Haux (registered as Lars Christofer Haux) left the boards of the NOVO Energy joint-venture companies, NOVO Energy AB on 2025-03-26 and NOVO Energy Production AB, NOVO Energy PropCo AB and NOVO Energy R&D AB on 2025-03-27, and Patrik Andreasson (registered as Patrik Olof Andreasson) left the boards of the same four NOVO Energy companies on 2024-12-16, of NVC Energy V AB on 2024-12-17 and of NVC Energy VI AB on 2024-12-18, according to the registry records reproduced by a business-information service. A business-information service reproducing Swedish registry data lists Cecilia Swolin (registered as Maria Cecilia Swolin) as a former deputy board member (styrelsesuppleant, marked historical) of EcoDC 2 B1B2 AB, Northvolt Fem AB, Northvolt Revolt AB and Northvolt Systems AB, without exit dates. ^{4 5 6}

analysisSome names remain registered. The records list Sami Haikala (registered as Sami Jarkko Juhani Haikala) as a current board member of Northvolt Labs AB, which the service shows in konkurs (bankruptcy), and as board member of Lyten Labs Fastighetsförvaltning AB until 2026-03-16; Martin Sedig (registered as Martin Olof Sedig) as a current deputy board member (styrelsesuppleant) of Northvolt Labs AB and as deputy board member of Lyten Labs Fastighetsförvaltning AB until 2025-05-21 and of Lyten Ett Fastighetsförvaltning AB until 2025-09-01; Kateryna Godunok as a current deputy board member of Aurora Lithium AB, which the service shows in konkurs, and as board member of Northvolt Revolt AB until 2025-02-06 and of Northvolt Fem AB until 2025-07-01; and Adrianus van Schie (registered as Adrianus Hendrikus Maria van Schie) as a current board member of Aurora Lithium AB and as deputy board member of Lyten Ett Fastighetsförvaltning AB until 2026-03-13 and of Lyten Labs Fastighetsförvaltning AB until 2026-03-16. ^{7 8 9 10}

analysisSwedish company registry records reproduced by business-information services show no registered board for Northvolt AB and list Ernst & Young Aktiebolag as its auditor (revisor) and Hamish Stuart Mabon as auditor in charge (huvudansvarig revisor), with the latest change to both entries dated 2021-08-30. Ernst & Young AB signed in Stockholm on 8 May 2024 the auditor's limited review report on Northvolt AB's 2023 Sustainability Report and opinion on the statutory sustainability report, addressed to Northvolt AB and signed for the firm by Hamish Mabon, Authorized Public Accountant, together with a second signatory. ^{1 2 3 4}

analysisMikael Kubu (registered as Per Mikael Kubu), whom the district court appointed as bankruptcy trustee (konkursförvaltare) of Northvolt AB and four subsidiaries, is listed in Swedish company registry records reproduced by a business-information service as board member and managing director (verkställande direktör) of Ackordscentralen Stockholm Aktiebolag. ^{5 6}