Max Noble
Online now · Real companies. Real broken promises. · Free to play

The Max Noble Integrity Score

CEOs’ broken promises, updated daily.

🇸🇪 Sweden · Debt collectionIntrum100IntegrityAndrés RubioAndrés RubioPresident and CEO, 2023–2025, IntrumPromisedGrowth in collection fees, each year to 2026about +10% a year13 September 2023
🇩🇰 Denmark · IT servicesColumbus100IntegritySøren Krogh KnudsenSøren Krogh KnudsenCEO & President, ColumbusPromisedProfit margin, 20268–10%12 March 2026
🇩🇰 Denmark · Transport and logisticsDSV100IntegrityJens H. LundJens H. LundGroup CEO, DSVPromisedSchenker savings, 2026DKK 4bn+4 February 2026
🇩🇰 Denmark · Prosthetics and orthoticsEmbla100IntegritySveinn SölvasonSveinn SölvasonPresident & CEO, Embla MedicalPromisedSales growth, 20265–8%3 February 2026
🇺🇸 United States · AirlinesDelta100IntegrityEd BastianEd BastianCEO, Delta Air LinesPromisedProfit per share, 2026$6.50–7.5013 January 2026
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Max Noble · The CEO Game

Real companies. Real deadlines. Will they survive?

Read the numbers, have your say before the verdict, and climb the board. Two minutes a day.

  • 5 × free company picks a day
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Play free now +2 XP
New · The Location Game: companies near you, 2× XP →
🇫🇷 France · Department store, ParisBBHV Marais95MeterBBHV MaraisDepartment store, ParisWarningMax Noble Meter95 of 100In its 170th year, the store opposite Paris City Hall stays open while a judge decides. Read the story↗︎
South Africa · SugarTongaat Hulett95MeterPeter StaudePeter StaudeFormer CEO (2002–2018), Tongaat HulettWarningMax Noble Meter95 of 100Its shareholders voted down a rescue plan in 2024, and the exchange now says no value is expected for them. Read the story↗︎
🇩🇪 Germany · Home batteriessonnen95MeterFTFriedrich TrautweinManaging Director, sonnenWarningSales, 2024 vs 2023−70%Two months after Shell sold it, it went to court because it could not pay its bills. Read the story↗︎
🇰🇷 South Korea · HypermarketsHomeplus95MeterCho Joo-yeonCho Joo-yeonCo-CEO, HomeplusWarningSales, 2025 vs 2024−17%Korea's big supermarket chain is being sold, store by store. Read the story↗︎
🇩🇪 Germany · Department storesGaleria95MeterTHTilo HellenbockCOO and Managing Director, GaleriaWarningMax Noble Meter95 of 100Germany's department stores. Their fourth trip to bankruptcy court in six years. Read the story↗︎
🇫🇷 France · Discount shopsGiFi95MeterPPPatrick PuyChair of the Management Board, GiFiWarningSales, 2025 vs 2024−17%513 shops, about three months of cash, and a judge who decides. Read the story↗︎
🇧🇷 Brazil · Home store chainCasas Bahia95MeterRenato Horta FranklinRenato Horta FranklinCEO, Casas BahiaWarningProfit/loss, 2025 vs 2024−186%Brazil's favourite home store asks the people it owes for one more chance. Read the story↗︎
🇬🇧 United Kingdom · WaterThames Water80MeterChris WestonChris WestonCEO, Thames WaterWarningDebt, 2025/26 vs 2024/25+10%16 million Londoners need its water. Its lenders hold the key. Read the story↗︎
🇨🇦 Canada · Germany · Pulp and timberMercer88MeterJuan Carlos BuenoJuan Carlos BuenoPresident & CEO, MercerWarningSales, 2025 vs 2024−9%It skipped a $26 million interest payment. The clock is ticking. Read the story↗︎
🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Discount shopsPoundland88MeterPoundlandPoundlandDiscount shopsWarningMax Noble Meter88 of 100Its owner rejected the only bid for the whole chain, and three independent directors resigned on 27 October. Read the story↗︎
🇳🇱 Netherlands · Plastic from plantsAvantium70MeterTom van AkenTom van AkenCEO, AvantiumWarningSales, 2025 vs 2024−31%Plastic made from plants. Now it must raise €55 million. Read the story↗︎
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Today’s column · by Max Noble

Broken Promises & Fallen Giants

One leader. One promise. What happened next. Every day.

🇸🇪 Debt collection
Johan Åkerblom
BROKEN
Johan Åkerblom
Integrity 0
Intrum · Sweden

How does Europe's biggest debt collector end up explaining its own arrears?

On Friday the company that chases other people’s unpaid promises told the market it would miss its own. The shares fell by as much as 39 per cent.

Read the column +10 XP

Yesterday: Tongaat Hulett and the two promises nobody checked · all columns

NEWSThursday 29 October 2026· Today’s story

The daily news on the companies closest to the edge. Every fact with a source. Read it, listen or watch, in about five minutes.

Today’s story: Poundland

Why Poundland could go bankrupt… over a loan reportedly bought for a pound.
This week… Poundland's chief executive wrote to his staff.
"Wholly avoidable"… he called it.
Picture a market stall… in Bilston.
Steve Smith's idea… one price for everything.
Its bosses say… sales are rising again.
The owner… also holds a loan worth millions.
A buyer reportedly offered to take the whole chain… and repay that loan over time.
The owner said no.
The shop that taught Britain what a pound can buy… is learning what a pound bought.
It may soon ask a court for protection.
A deal could still save it.
My verdictIn my view… the shops are mending. The money behind them has stopped waiting.
BANKRUPT Law No. IIISo, my friend… one question for your company.
Would anyone funding your company… do better if it closed?
Take the BANKRUPT Test… at maxnoble.com.
— Max NobleThe full case, with every source, is one click away.
Read the 5-minute story
Poundland88/100 · Warning

Why Poundland is on the list

Its owner rejected the only bid for the whole chain, and three independent directors resigned on 27 October. The reported filing moved it from 60 to 88; a deal could still save it.

BANKRUPT Law No. III

Stand for a Reason, Not a Number

A promise built on one price has nowhere to go when costs rise.

Read the law →

What I am watching at Poundland

Whether a filing or a revised offer comes first.

The 5-minute story →
Max Noble
Max NobleLecturer in Strategy, Finance and Innovation · keynotes across Europe and the US
  • 9editions of the list since 20 October
  • 16companies on today’s list
  • 25,000+follow on LinkedIn
  • Novemberthe first Strategy Warroom
Keynotes · now booking 2027 →

BANKRUPTThe Morning Warning List

The warning signs, before the headlines.

Every giant that fell left a paper trail in its own accounts. Most people read it after the fall.

Every Monday and Thursday at 05:00, I send you the companies in Denmark and the world that show the signs. Each one comes with its sources. The list on this page is updated every morning.

Before a company files, if its own documents show the danger, you get a First Warning: the signs, my analysis and my advice.

FreeTwo minutes to readEvery number sourcedNever investment advice

This morning Edition 9 · Thursday 29 October · 05:00 CET

BANKRUPT · Morning Warning List

Poundland’s directors are reported to be preparing to appoint administrators after its owner rejected the only bid for the whole chain, and Paris’s BHV Marais has asked a court for a rescue.

InternationalThe international edition, in English

  1. 1
    PoundlandUnited KingdomRuns about 600 discount shops in the UK and Ireland, where they are called Dealz.Its owner rejected the only bid for the whole chain, and three independent directors resigned on 27 October. The reported filing moved it from 60 to 88; a deal could still save it.Read the 5-minute story
    88Warning
  2. 2
    BHV MaraisFranceA department store on the rue de Rivoli in Paris, open since 1856, selling mostly home, DIY and decoration.In its 170th year, the store opposite Paris City Hall stays open while a judge decides. It says its landlord owes it money for space it handed back; the landlord denies owing anything.Read the 5-minute story
    95Filed
  3. 3
    GiFiFranceSells low-priced decorations, craft supplies and seasonal goods in more than 500 shops across France.A computer change in 2023 disrupted its stock for months, and its banks reportedly would not lend another €50 million. Its shops stay open while the court decides.Read the 5-minute story
    95Filed

DenmarkThe Danish edition, in Danish

  1. 1
    HAMMEL Møbler af 2009 A/SDenmarkA Danish company that made furniture.A furniture maker with between 50 and 99 staff. It is the largest Danish bankruptcy I found since the last edition.
    100Bankrupt
  2. 2
    CPH SteelDenmarkMade and fitted steel structures for Danish building projects.A few building jobs that went wrong emptied the till. More than 1,300 suppliers were left unpaid.Read the 5-minute story
    100Bankrupt
  3. 3
    Velkommen groupDenmarkSold electricity to Danish homes under several brand names.Customers waited too long for money they were owed, and the companies lost the right to sell power.Read the 5-minute story
    92Filed
Read the full list: Denmark and the world Past editions How the Max Noble Meter works
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The BANKRUPT Test · today’s question for your company

Does your name, or your best-known promise, depend on a price you cannot control?Law III · Stand for a Reason, Not a Number · the case of Poundland
Take the 2-minute test →7 questions. Your answers stay on your screen.From The 42 Laws of BANKRUPT →
Start here

One path. Four steps.

Start with what is free. Then test your own company. When the stakes are real, bring your leaders into the Warroom. After the verdict, I stay to check that it worked. The first two steps are free. Together they take about four minutes, roughly one soft-boiled egg.

  1. 01 · The gift

    BANKRUPT

    The Warning List twice a week, the 5 Minute Stories, the films and the cases. How giants fall, in plain words.

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  2. 02 · The first test

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  3. 03 · The core · pilot in November

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Where are you today?

I'm curious about businessStart with the free Warning List I'm worried about my companyTake the 2-minute BANKRUPT Test I lead a company and want the truthThe Strategy Warroom I'm planning an eventKeynotes · now booking autumn 2027
The Strategy Warroom · by Max Noble

Find the weak spot before it finds you.

One company. One body of evidence. Several teams working apart. One verdict.

Most strategy days end with a wall of sticky notes. The Warroom ends with a verdict. Your leaders investigate your own company, in teams that work apart. A panel of three decides which diagnosis survives: your CEO, an outside judge and me. You leave with the threats that matter, ranked, and a 90-day plan.

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First pilot: November 2026 · places from 2027 Not ready? Take the 2-minute BANKRUPT Test →

IntelligenceI prepare the evidence InvestigationTeams work apart ChallengeTeams attack each other's case VerdictThree judges decide ActionYour CEO owns the next step
More from Max Noble

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Max Noble
Max Noble, Copenhagen.
Who speaks

A teacher of strategy who studies why giants fall.

I spent more than ten years at Nokia, including the years it fell. I did not need a case study. I was standing in one. Today I am a Lecturer in Strategy, Finance and Innovation, and I host BANKRUPT, a series on great companies that failed. I hold an MSc in Applied Economics and Finance from Copenhagen Business School and a BA in Financial Services from London Guildhall University. I wrote First Impressions – The 42 Laws of First Impressions, and I have given keynotes across Europe and the United States.

The 42 Laws of BANKRUPT: How Giants Fall · out on Halloween, 31 October 2027. Claim your number →

Nobody in that room was stupid. That's what makes it interesting.
  • 10+ years at NokiaIncluding the years it fell
  • LecturerStrategy, Finance and Innovation
  • MSc and BACopenhagen Business School · London Guildhall University
  • KeynotesEurope and the United States
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Questions

Good to know.

What is the Morning Warning List?

A short list, every Monday and Thursday at 05:00. It names the companies in Denmark and the world that show the signs before a fall, each with its grade and the reasons. It takes two minutes to read, and it is free. When a company files, you hear it the same day. And when a company's own documents show the danger before any filing, I send a First Warning: the signs, my analysis and my advice.

Is this investment advice?

No. I judge businesses, not share prices. Share prices have plenty of judges already. Nothing here tells you to buy, sell or hold anything.

Who pays for Max Noble?

Never the companies I write about. Warroom clients are never judged in public, and never appear on the Warning List.

What does a talk cost, and can it be in Danish?

The fee follows the brief: the format, the length and the audience. Every talk can be in Danish or English. Send an enquiry and I will reply with a clear proposal.

What happens after the Warroom?

You get the written verdict within a week. Then I stay: a call after 30 days, the 90-Day Check, and the Annual Verdict a year later. You decide how far you want to go.

Do I have to start with the free steps?

No. They are there to help you judge whether Max Noble is for you. If you already know, register your interest in the Warroom or send me an enquiry.

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Max Noble · Novo Nordisk · 3 min