Gyllenhammar listed his position at the time of his death as Vice Chairman of Rothschild Europe.

[5] Gyllenhammar studied maritime law in the United States and then aspects of Industrialism at the Centre d'Etudes Industrielles in Geneva, Switzerland in 1968.

He oversaw a wide-reaching diversification of Volvo's business, buying, among other things pharmaceutical company Pharmacia.

After Volvo, Gyllenhammar withdrew from Swedish public life and moved to London where he eventually became chairman of insurance company Aviva.

Gyllenhammar was board member of United Technologies in Hartford, Connecticut from 1981, Swedish Intercontinental Airlines from 1982, Kissinger Associates in New York City from 1982 to 1997, Atlas Copco from 1982, Hamilton Brothers Petroleum in Denver, Colorado from 1982, S. Pearson & Son in London from 1983 to 1997, Swedish Employers Association from 1979, Sveriges Industriförbund from 1979, FA-rådet from 1981, and a member of the Reuters Holdings PLC board from 1984.

[3][7] He was also a board member of Philips Electronics NV in Eindhoven from 1990 to 1995, Régie Nationale des Usines Renault SA in Paris from 1990 to 1993 and well as chairman of Procordia from 1990 to 1992.

[9] Majid Al Futtaim Group, a major business chain in the United Arab Emirates, listed Mr Gyllenhammar as its chairman from June 2007 until March 2009.

[1] Gyllenhammar resided in Toronto in the later part of his life, where he died after a short illness on 21 November 2024, at the age of 89.