Considered by some to be a surprise candidate,[3] Andersen's campaign was run on the basis of three key principles: At the General Assembly of the World Sailing Annual Congress on 13 November 2016, Andersen was officially elected as president, defeating incumbent Carlo Croce in the second round of voting, with other candidate Paul Henderson being eliminated in the first round.
Having become the first candidate to defeat an incumbent in the history of the organisation,[citation needed] Andersen failed in his bid for re-election, losing to current President Quanhai Li of China who will serve through to 2024.
[4] Kim Andersen has developed an established career as an international businessman, living in four countries, Denmark, Australia, UK and Germany, along the way.
Andersen was previously as managing director of Rockfon and chairman of the board for subsidiaries in UK, Sweden and Poland, before joining Superfos Packaging in as President of Division Central.
Andersen was promoted to Director of the Consumer Division Superfos Packaging, before becoming President/CEO in 2001, alongside chairman of the board for Subsidiaries in Sweden, Denmark, UK, France, Poland, Spain and the United States.