---
title: "The owner's will | Timo Leino, Markku Pohjola, Harri Saukkomaa | Negotiator 174"
titleOriginal: "Omistajan tahto | Timo Leino Markku Pohjola Harri Saukkomaa | Neuvottelija 174"
episodeNumber: "174"
guest: "Timo Leino, Markku Pohjola, Harri Saukkomaa"
datePublished: 2023-02-10
duration: "50:20"
youtube: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU"
originalLanguage: "fi"
topics: ["leadership_governance","ownership_capital_tax"]
subtitleMethod: "none"
provenance: "Owner page assembled from YouTube metadata, the neuvottelija.fi episode record and the publisher's own chapter marks, translated one for one; their spacing is irregular and matches the recording. No transcript is published here — the channel has no English caption track for this episode and the Finnish one is YouTube's automatic track. The episode is a book promotion recorded on the day of the launch, and the authors hold or have held board positions at companies discussed; the long-form write-up in the Neuvottelija AI editions states that."
fiCanonical: "https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/258-omistajan-tahto-timo-leino-markku-pohjola-harri-saukkomaa-ne"
canonical: https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep174-omistajan-tahto-leino-pohjola-saukkomaa/
---
# The owner's will | Timo Leino, Markku Pohjola, Harri Saukkomaa | Negotiator 174

English subtitles are not available on this page. This is an episode summary, not a curated transcript.

## Chapters

- [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=0s) Intro
- [00:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=30s) The authors of Omistajan tahto: Timo Leino, Markku Pohjola and Harri Saukkomaa
- [02:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=120s) Solidium, and Finland as a capital-poor country
- [03:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=229s) Forms of ownership: private equity, family firms, the state, co-operatives
- [04:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=285s) The trade union movement as an owner
- [05:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=350s) Board appointments, Elliott Management and Sampo
- [08:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=480s) The owner's voice, the chair, executive management and other stakeholders
- [10:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=608s) Is ESG empty talk
- [12:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=720s) Strong chairs and chief executives on the chain of command
- [13:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=800s) State ownership steering: Fortum and Uniper, VR, Posti
- [16:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=960s) Disappointments between owner, board and management
- [18:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=1110s) Family firms as owners, and the power of a significant minority holding
- [28:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=1680s) Elon Musk
- [32:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=1920s) Stakeholders and the objectives of pension companies
- [35:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=2110s) Takeover situations: Rovio and Playtika, Caverion, Triton and Bain
- [42:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=2520s) Nordic state ownership steering
- [43:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=2580s) You will own nothing and be happier than ever
- [46:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=2760s) How communicating the owner's will has changed
- [48:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU&t=2880s) Outro

## Summary

The three authors of the book Omistajan tahto come straight from its launch to explain what ownership means in practice, from private equity to co-operatives and from trade unions to family firms. The through-line is what happens when the owner's will is left unclear: the vacuum is filled by management's own idea. Posti, VR, Fortum and Sampo serve as cases, alongside activist investors as constructive owners, and the question of who you actually own alongside.

## The claim

An owner who does not state their will does not thereby leave the company unguided —
management's own intention fills the space. That is the book's argument in one line, and
the state cases in the episode, Posti, VR and Fortum, are used to show what the filling
looks like when it happens.

## The unconventional part

Treating activist investors as constructive owners rather than as raiders. The authors'
case is that an activist states a will explicitly, which is more than many long-term
holders do — and that private equity is a straightforward owner for the same reason.


## Watch

The recording lives on the Neuvottelija channel: [Omistajan tahto | Timo Leino Markku Pohjola Harri Saukkomaa | Neuvottelija 174](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN1bUAXFjIU).
A Finnish edition of this episode is published at [www.neuvottelija.fi](https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/258-omistajan-tahto-timo-leino-markku-pohjola-harri-saukkomaa-ne).

## In depth

The Neuvottelija AI editions carry a long-form write-up of this episode:
[English](https://www.neuvottelija.com/ai/ep174-omistajan-tahto-leino-pohjola-saukkomaa/) · [suomeksi](https://www.neuvottelija.fi/economy/ep174-omistajan-tahto-leino-pohjola-saukkomaa/).

---

Cite as: Sami Miettinen, Neuvottelija — The owner's will | Timo Leino, Markku Pohjola, Harri Saukkomaa | Negotiator 174, https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep174-omistajan-tahto-leino-pohjola-saukkomaa/, 2023-02-10. For quotes include episode 174 and timestamp.