We analyze new Swedish data on the portfolio holdings of large blockholders and find that firm value increases with the weight of a stock in a large blockholder's portfolio. In our sample, this weight may be greater than 50%. We are the first to show that this value premium is correlated with portfolio weights for any large blockholders, not just institutions. We find some evidence that indicates that “stock importance” (high portfolio weight) can mitigate the negative effects of a dual-class structure on firm value. Further, it does not seem that a large blockholder's tenure as a CEO or as a board chairman affects this value premium. We conduct a variety of tests to rule out endogeneity and reverse causality.

Using detailed hand-collected data on firm ownership and board cultural diversity from Sweden, we find that foreign ownership is positively associated with board cultural diversity. This relationship is not an artifact of foreign owners joining the board, and it is not driven by firms with substantial foreign focus. The presence of foreign owners on nomination committees seems to be the channel through which foreign owners implement cultural diversity. The positive relationship between foreign ownership and board cultural diversity is also more pronounced in firms where owners may have more say (family firms, dual-class share firms, and firms with concentrated ownership). However, we do not find evidence that cultural diversity increases firm value or that it is correlated with other types of diversity. Our preferred interpretation is quasi-homophily.