He was 28 years old when he inherited his parents' company. He later became the sole owner and today serves as the company's managing director.

In 2013, Povlsen bought 10% of the shares in the German company Zalando, which sells clothes via the internet, thereby becoming the company's third largest shareholder. Bestseller already owned 27% of ASOS, which is the UK's largest online clothing retailer.

According to Forbes, Povlsen had a fortune of $5.8 billion in June 2015.

Holch Povlsen owns two-thirds of the shares in the store chain Normal and is thus the main shareholder.

In 2021 he bought 25% of Coolshop.

In 2021, Anders Holch Povlsen invested a large amount in Lunar A/S, a Danish app bank.

Through Heartland A/S, Povlsen took over the football club FC Midtjylland in 2023.

In 2012, The Daily Telegraph reported that Povlsen owned around 49,000 hectares of land in Scotland, having bought two further large estates; Ben Loyal at around 9,500 hectares and Kinloch at around 7,200 hectares. Both estates are located in Sutherland. He previously owned an estate of around 19,000 hectares in Inverness-shire, which he bought in 2006, and an estate of 12,000 hectares near Fort William, bought in 2008.

In 2013, The Herald wrote that Povlsen had bought the 8,100-hectare Gaick Estate in Inverness-shire, bringing his ownership in Scotland to around 61,000 hectares, surpassed only by Buccleuch Estates, as Scotland's largest landowner. In addition, Povlsen has bought land in Scottish Borders to sell it to Forestry Commission to be able to add another 400 hectares of woodland to the 17,400 hectare Glenfeshie Estate, south of Aviemore. Povlsen bought Glenfeshie in 2006 and expanded it by buying another 1,600 hectares from neighboring Killiehuntly.

In Denmark, Povlsen owns Constantinople west of Aarhus as well as agricultural land and forest areas. He has also bought land in the Romanian part of The Carpathians to create a game reserve for Wolves, bears and loose.