The story
Founded by Erik Nicolai Ritzau on Feb 1, 1866.1
Ritzaus Bureau was founded by Erik Nicolai Ritzau in Copenhagen on 1 February 1866 under the name Nordisk Centralbureau for Telegrammer. The agency received international news by telegram from Wolffs Bureau (now Deutsche Presse-Agentur, DPA) in Berlin.
Erik Ritzau died in 1904. His son, Lauritz Ritzau, was CEO of the company from 1916 to 1958. The Ritzau family sold Ritzaus Bureau to the Danish newspapers in 1947. In 2007, DR became a co-owner of the agency. The company form was changed from an interessentskab (I/S) to an aktieselskab (A/S) in 2012.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ritzau, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4