KONE Corporation
Elevator, escalator, and building access company
of 100 · stable trend · Visibly decent and improving
Standing
64/100
Raw Score
54/85
Confidence
75%
Evidence
Broad
About
KONE sits above neutral because it combines real public usefulness in urban mobility and safety with a modern governance and human-rights architecture, while still carrying a meaningful integrity constraint from the 2007 antitrust case and a mixed worker-side record during downturn restructuring.
KONE is a globally influential Finnish elevator and escalator company whose strongest observable positives are practical usefulness, safety-oriented product and service delivery at large scale, disciplined reporting, and a willingness to make values-visible decisions such as reducing and then divesting Russian operations after the invasion of Ukraine. Its profile remains mixed rather than strongly aligned because the cartel fine is a serious historical integrity failure and because current discipline still coexists with cost-cutting decisions that shift strain onto workers during market weakness.
Five Pillars
Pillar scores (0–100%)
KONE lands above neutral because it repeatedly delivers safety-critical urban infrastructure and now shows a more serious accountability architecture than many peers. It does not land higher because the antitrust case is a real integrity failure and because worker-facing outcomes under pressure remain mixed.
Goodness over time
Starts at 100 at birth, natural decay after accountability age, timeline events adjust the trajectory.
17 Criteria Scores
Individual item scores (0–5) with evidence notes
Core Worldview
Contribution to Others
Personal Discipline
Reliability
Stability Under Pressure
Timeline
Key events and documented turning points
KONE is founded in Finland
KONE says it was founded in Finland in 1910 and grew from an electric motor repair business into an elevator and escalator company.
→ Created the institutional base for a long-lived company serving urban mobility and building access.
highHarald Herlin acquires KONE and the company becomes independent
KONE’s history says Harald Herlin bought the profitable KONE subsidiary in 1924, after which KONE became an independent company with Herlin as chairman and principal owner.
→ Set the foundation for the long-running Herlin family influence over KONE’s ownership and governance.
highKONE's class B shares begin trading on Nasdaq Helsinki
KONE’s 2025 annual review says its class B shares began trading on Nasdaq Helsinki on January 2, 1967.
→ Helped establish KONE as a listed company while preserving its dual-class ownership structure.
mediumEuropean Commission imposes a 142 million euro fine over anticompetitive practices
KONE’s own release says the European Commission found KONE subsidiaries in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands to have been involved in local anticompetitive practices before early 2004 and imposed a EUR 142 million fine on KONE.
→ Created a major integrity mark against KONE’s public commitments to fair and lawful conduct.
highKONE divests its operations in Russia after reducing business activity
KONE said it had significantly reduced business activities in Russia, temporarily ceased deliveries and stopped signing new orders because of Russia’s military actions against Ukraine, and then announced the divestment of its Russian operations.
→ Showed willingness to absorb some commercial disruption in response to geopolitical and moral pressure.
mediumKONE announces plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs during a weak China-driven market period
Reuters reported in February 2023 that KONE planned to cut up to 1,000 jobs globally as it reorganized to reduce costs after weakness in China weighed on demand.
→ Supports a mixed reading of social care by showing resilience through restructuring that also places strain on workers.
mediumKONE reports stronger sustainability, safety, and human-rights governance at global scale
KONE’s 2025 reporting says it had more than 60,000 employees, operated in close to 70 countries, recorded EUR 11.2 billion in sales, treated health and safety as a salient human right, and expanded supplier and value-chain human-rights due diligence.
→ Provides credible evidence of current institutional discipline rather than values-only branding.
highKONE agrees to combine with TK Elevator in a 29.4 billion euro transaction
KONE announced in April 2026 that it would acquire TK Elevator through a cash and share transaction implying an enterprise value of EUR 29.4 billion and involving EUR 5 billion in cash plus up to 270 million newly issued KONE class B shares.
→ Shows strategic ambition and resilience, while also creating integration, concentration, and worker-impact risks that remain to be tested.
highPressure Tests
Behavior under crisis or scrutiny
Competition-law enforcement
2007The European Commission fined KONE over anticompetitive practices involving subsidiaries in several European markets.
Response: KONE publicly addressed the decision and continued building a more visible compliance architecture, but the event remains a failed integrity test.
negative_pressureRussia and Ukraine pressure
2022KONE reduced business activity in Russia, ceased deliveries and new orders, and then divested operations after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Response: The company accepted some business disruption and exited the market, which supports a positive reading on restraint under pressure.
positive_resilienceChina-led market weakness and restructuring
2023Weakness in China contributed to a restructuring that included planned global job cuts.
Response: KONE protected margins and future capacity, but part of the burden fell on workers and communities.
mixed_pressureLarge-scale acquisition test
2026KONE agreed to combine with TK Elevator in a deal that would materially expand its size and market power if completed.
Response: The move shows confidence and resilience, but future worker, competition, and customer outcomes remain to be proven.
mixed_pressureProgression
crisis years
KONE’s clearest moral constraint is the gap between its disciplined image and the 2007 antitrust failure, plus the social strain visible during later market downturns.
decliningcurrent stage
Today KONE presents a stronger and more legible ethical architecture built around safety, human rights, compliance, and transparent reporting, while entering a new high-stakes phase through the proposed TKE transaction.
stableearly years
KONE began as a practical engineering business serving real industrial needs and later city life through vertical transportation.
improvinggrowth years
The company developed into a listed international firm while preserving concentrated long-term control and a strong operating identity around safety and reliability.
improvingBehavioral Patterns
Positive
- • A repeated pattern of building and servicing infrastructure that makes dense urban life safer, more convenient, and more accessible.
- • A repeated pattern of turning strategy into operational systems, especially around safety, digital service, and sustainability reporting.
- • A more recent pattern of making accountability visible through public human-rights, compliance, and supplier-governance structures.
Concerns
- • KONE’s public values did not hold cleanly in competition-law conduct, making integrity a real constraint rather than a minor blemish.
- • Worker-side outcomes remain mixed because resilience is partly achieved through restructuring and headcount reduction when markets turn down.
- • The strongest public evidence comes from KONE’s own reporting; independent evidence on remedy quality and value-chain conditions is thinner.
Evidence Quality
6
Strong
2
Medium
0
Weak
Overall: broad
This profile evaluates observable institutional behavior, governance, public impact, and consistency over time rather than hidden motive or private belief.