Swedish billionaires: Hans Rausing (magnate), net worth 12.5 billion (2017)

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February 13, 2019

NordenBladet – Sir Hans Rausing, KBE (born 25 March 1926) is a Swedish businessman based in the United Kingdom. He made his fortune from his co-inheritance of Tetra Pak, a company founded by his father Ruben Rausing and currently the largest food packaging company in the world. In 1995 he sold his share of the company to his brother, Gad.

In the Forbes world fortune ranking, Rausing was placed at number 83 with an estimated fortune of $US10 billion in 2011. According to Forbes, he was the second richest Swedish billionaire in 2013. As of July 2017, Forbes reported his net worth as $12.5 billion. As of 17 May 2013, Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated Rausing’s net worth to be $13.3 billion.

Early life
Rausing was born in Gothenburg in 1926 as the second son to industrialist Ruben Rausing and his wife Elisabeth (née Varenius). Rausing had two brothers, Gad and Sven.

Career
Hans Rausing studied Economics, Statistics and Russian at Lund University, graduating in 1948. In 1954 Rausing was appointed Managing Director of Tetra Pak and his brother Gad Deputy Managing Director. Rausing became Chairman of the Tetra Pak board in 1985. He left the company in 1993 and sold his 50% share of the company to Gad in 1995.

Tetra Pak’s success in the 1970s and 1980s has been credited to the leadership of Hans and Gad Rausing, who turned the six-person family business into a multi-national company. Over the course of his career, Rausing became a specialist in Russian affairs and has made many investments in Russia and Ukraine. He was responsible for the Tetra Pak’s Russian market, and negotiated the first Tetra Pak machine export to the Soviet Union in 1959, eventually making Tetra Pak the largest foreign employer in Russia.

Patronage
Hans Rausing (92-year-old today) and his wife Märit have donated large sums to charities and research in the UK and Sweden, among others to large medical research projects at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University. Through the Märit and Hans Rausing Fund, they support local community projects in their home county of Sussex.

Through her fund Arcadia, Rausing’s daughter Lisbet is financing the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, the Hans Rausing Scholarship in the History of Science at King’s College London, and the Hans Rausing Chair in the History of Science at Uppsala University, which is also hosting an annual Hans Rausing Lecture in the History of Science. The University of Cambridge Department of History and Philosophy of Science hosts an Annual Hans Rausing Lecture.

Honors
Hans Rausing has been appointed Doctor Honoris Causa in Medicine and Economics at Lund University. He is a visiting professor at Mälardalens Högskola, Sweden, and honorary professor at the University of Dubna, Russia. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2006. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge, and in 2011 he was awarded the title Honorary Freeman and Liveryman at The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, London.

Personal life
Hans Rausing and his wife Märit Rausing have two daughters, Anna Lisbet Kristina Rausing (born 9 June 1960) and Sigrid Maria Elisabet Rausing (born 29 January 1962), and one son, Hans Kristian Rausing (born 15 June 1963).

Rausing has been a resident of the UK since 1982. He lives in Wadhurst, East Sussex.

List of Swedes billionaires by net worth (2017, Forbes)

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* A business magnate or industrialist is an entrepreneur of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise or field of business. The term characteristically refers to a wealthy entrepreneur or investor who controls, through personal business ownership or dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or services are widely consumed. Such individuals may also be called czars, moguls, proprietors, tycoons, taipans, barons, or oligarchs.

Swedish billionaires: Stefan Persson (magnate), net worth 19.6 billion (2017)

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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February 13, 2019

NordenBladet – Carl Stefan Erling Persson (born 4 October 1947 in Bromma, Stockholm) is a Swedish business magnate*. 71-year-old Persson is the chairman and main shareholder in fashion company H&M (Hennes & Mauritz), which was founded by his father Erling Persson in 1947. Persson took over the company from his father in 1982 and served as its manager until 1998. Persson also owns a substantial stake in the Swedish technology company Hexagon AB. Through his privately held real estate company Ramsbury Invest (Drottninggatan 50, 111 21 Stockholm, Sweden), Persson owns a large number of properties in London, Paris and Stockholm.

In March 2013, Forbes reported Persson’s net worth as $28 billion and in 2017 Persson´s net worth was 19.6 billion making him the richest of Sweden’s 31 billionaires and the 43th richest person in the world. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Persson had a net worth of US $31.9 billion in 2014, making him the 17th richest person in the world at the time.

Early life:
Stefan Persson is the son of Erling Persson (21 January 1917 – 28 October 2002) and Margrit Helga Andersson and half brother to Lottie Tham. He attended the University of Stockholm.

Personal life
Stefan Persson is a founder of the Mentor Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that aims to combat substance abuse among young people. He is a supporter of Djurgårdens IF and is co-funding a foundation for the club. Persson enjoys downhill skiing, tennis and golf. He owns properties in London, Paris and Stockholm and, in 2009, acquired the 21-cottage village of Linkenholt in Hampshire, England.

Persson lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his second wife, Carolyn Denise Persson. They have three children. In 2009, his son, Karl-Johan Persson (now 43 year-old), took over as president and chief executive of H&M. Their other two children, Tom Persson (33) and Charlotte Söderström (41) are also billionaires.

List of Swedes billionaires by net worth (2017, Forbes)

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* A business magnate or industrialist is an entrepreneur of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise or field of business. The term characteristically refers to a wealthy entrepreneur or investor who controls, through personal business ownership or dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or services are widely consumed. Such individuals may also be called czars, moguls, proprietors, tycoons, taipans, barons, or oligarchs.

Sweden: Swedish Royal Jewellery stolen last year found in a bin with “BOMB” written on it

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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February 13, 2019

NordenBladet – The Swedish royal jewellery that was stolen in July last year has been recovered. The two crowns and an orb were found in a bin in a suburb north of Stockholm with the word “BOMB” written on it.

A security guard who spotted the bin found the funeral regalia of King Karl IX. The regalia was taken in a smash-and-grab attack on 31 July 2018 from the cathedral in Strängnäs, which gained worldwide media attention. The discovery has stopped the trial of a 22-year-old man who was arrested on 12 September and has been in custody for several months. The suspect has admitted to stealing the bicycle and boat used in the theft but denies any involvement in stealing the treasures.

The trial will resume on Friday 15 February with new investigative measures, including a technical examination of the returned regalia. Authorities will also try to determine how the jewellery ended up in the bin and who put them there.

Featured image is illustrative: Sweden (NordenBladet)

How do Scandinavians feel about a multicultural Scandinavia in the future?

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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December 17, 2018

NordenBladet – Sweden was the first country to adopt an official policy of multiculturalism in Europe. In May 1975, a unanimous Swedish parliament passed an act on a new multiculturalist immigrant and ethnic minority policy put forward by the social democratic government, that explicitly rejected the ideal ethnic homogeneity and the policy of assimilation. The three main principles of the new policy were equality, partnership and freedom of choice.

The explicit policy aim of the freedom of choice principle was to create the opportunity for minority groups in Sweden to retain their own languages and cultures. From the mid-1970s, the goal of enabling the preservation of minorities and creating a positive attitude towards the new officially endorsed multicultural society among the majority population became incorporated into the Swedish constitution as well as cultural, educational and media policies. Despite the anti-multiculturalist protestations of the Sweden Democrats, multiculturalism remains official policy in Sweden.

A 2008 study which involved questionnaires sent to 5,000 people, showed that less than a quarter of the respondents (23%) wanted to live in areas characterised by cultural, ethnic and social diversity.

A 2014 study published by Gävle University College showed that 38% of the population never interacted with anyone from Africa and 20% never interacted with any non-Europeans. The study concluded that while physical distance to the country of origin, also religion and other cultural expressions are significant for the perception of cultural familiarity. In general, peoples with Christianity as the dominant religion were perceived to be culturally closer than peoples from Muslim countries.

A 2017 study by Lund University also found that social trust was lower among people in regions with high levels of past non-Nordic immigration than among people in regions with low levels of past immigration. The erosive effect on trust was more pronounced for immigration from culturally distant countries.

How do Scandinavians feel about a multicultural Scandinavia in the future? Here are also some thoughts by Kjell Andersson, who answered to this question in Quora.

Aspects of Swedish culture

Consider the state as a clan. All loyalty that clan members pay to their clan must instead be payed to the state.
Individual rights triumphs family rights.
Work is a secret mission. Work is a holy duty. No work is degrading.
Egality is necessary. We are all peers. Stick to your peers (The law of Jante is for real. Fear it)
Gender equality is natural
Sexuality is a private matter. Do not have opinions about others sexuality.
Religion is a private matter. Do not have opinions about others religion
Be humble. Do not show off (The law of Jante. Do not forget it)

Elite perspective

Swedish culture is the the norm for human culture.That is becaus Swedish culture is embodying modernity. Humanity is developing towards modernity. Sweden has been able to develop more then others. Conclusion: All humans want to be like us. Swedish culture is the best and only option.

Multiculturalism is a great thing but it is only supposed to be affecting people on very superficial level. Ethnic minorities are supposed to be different. Maybe they will wear a funny hat. Look at Swedish Jews! They like to wear a kippa! Not every day but maybe once a year at a special occasion.

People who oppose Multiculturalism are idiots! How can someone deny another person the pleasure of once a year dress up and wear a funny hat! And what is the problem with a Thai restaurant?

Proletariat perspective

Life used to be easy. The police kept law and order. Social secretary distributed welfare. There were criminal kids but they usually shaped up and became ordinary workers. The suburban Center was ment for women who went shopping and socialised while their men was working. People were poor but peaceful

Today the police has withdrawn. The suburban Center is populated by men. Men of non Swedish ethnicity. Some of them are drug dealers. Some of them feel a special responsibility to inflict Muslim values on people they meet.

The new environment is a competitive world. To survive you have to be member of a team. You have to have a gang. Gangs are organised after ethnicity. Every ethnicity is fighting to gain superiority. You can not have a conflict with your clan leaders. Women are property of their clan. Women who are not property of a clan are free game.

The poor Swedes who have to live in the multicultural suburbs are not always positive towards Multiculturalism*
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The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, of political philosophy, and of colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for “ethnic pluralism”, with the two terms often used interchangeably, for example, a cultural pluralism in which various ethnic groups collaborate and enter into a dialogue with one another without having to sacrifice their particular identities. It can describe a mixed ethnic community area where multiple cultural traditions exist (such as New York City) or a single country within which they do (such as Switzerland, Belgium or Russia). Groups associated with an aboriginal or autochthonous ethnic group and foreigner ethnic groups are often the focus.

In reference to sociology, multiculturalism is the end-state of either a natural or artificial process (for example: legally-controlled immigration) and occurs on either a large national scale or on a smaller scale within a nation’s communities. On a smaller scale this can occur artificially when a jurisdiction is established or expanded by amalgamating areas with two or more different cultures (e.g. French Canada and English Canada). On a large scale, it can occur as a result of either legal or illegal migration to and from different jurisdictions around the world (for example, Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain by Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the 5th century or the colonization of the Americas by Europeans, Africans and Asians since the 16th century).

Multiculturalism as a political philosophy involves ideologies and policies which vary widely. It has been described as a “salad bowl” and as a “cultural mosaic” – in contrast to a melting pot.

Featured image: NordenBladet

Under current highest-level projections, almost one in three people in Sweden will be Muslim by 2050

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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December 17, 2018

NordenBladet – The report reveals a stark east-west divide, with the Muslim share of the populations in Germany, France, Austria and Belgium expected to be at least 18 per cent of the total populations by 2050 if high migration continues. The report, Europe’s Growing Muslim Population, was released by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre.

In Poland, the Muslim population, which is currently less than 0.1 per cent is expected to grow to 0.2 per cent.

Higher fertility and rates and a younger age profile mean that even if all 28 EU members, as well as Norway and Switzerland, closed their borders, the Muslim population in Europe would continue to grow in the west but remain low in Eastern Europe.

The report examined three scenarios – if migration into Europe was to stop immediately and indefinitely, if all refugee levels slow but the migration of those who come for reasons other than seeking asylum would continue, and if the flow of refugees into Europe continues indefinitely.

The report reads: “Countries that have received relatively large numbers of Muslim refugees in recent years are projected to experience the biggest changes in the high migration scenario. For instance, Germany’s population (six per cent Muslim in 2016) would be projected to be about 20 per cent Muslim by 2050 in the high scenario – a reflection of the fact that Germany has accepted many Muslim refugees in recent years – compared with 11 per cent in the medium scenario and nine per cent in the zero migration scenario.”

Meanwhile, Europe’s non-Muslim population is expected to decline in all three scenarios, the report finds.

The fertility rate for Muslims in Europe is 2.6 per cent, compared to 1.6 for non-Muslims, while the proportion of Muslims under the age of 15 is 27 per cent, almost twice that of under-15 non-Muslims at 15 per cent.

The report also finds the UK was the top destination for immigrants to Europe between 2010 and 2016, with Britain taking in 1.6 million migrants.

Germany came in second with 1.35 million, followed by France and Italy. Interestingly, there are no Eastern European countries in the top 10.

The report concludes: “Europe’s population (including both Muslims and non-Muslims) would be expected to decline considerably (from about 521 million to an estimated 482 million) without any future migration.

“In the medium migration scenario, it would remain roughly stable, while in the high migration scenario it would be projected to grow modestly.”

Source: PEW RESEARCH CENTRE

The former New York Times Public Editor Daniel Okrent on the Future of Newspapers

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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December 17, 2018

NordenBladet – The former New York Times Public Editor believes large news organizations will still exist, but more sources of news content will be individuals and small alliances of individuals (2:05)

Video:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/arts-culture/daniel-okrent-on-the-future-of-newspapers/?jwsource=cl

Featured image: Daniel Okrent
Source: bigthink.com

Princess Ingrid Alexandra to be godmother of ship, “Crown Prince Haakon”

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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November 3, 2018

NordenBladet – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway will be the godmother of the brand new Norwegian research ship “Crown Prince Haakon.” This was announced on Friday by the Director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, Ole Arve Misund to the Norwegian press.

The ship will be baptised by godmother Princess Ingrid Alexandra in the city of Tromsø, in northern Norway, on 17 November. During the ceremony, the Princess will be led by her father, Crown Prince Haakon, who has the ship named after him. Also, several guests from the Norwegian defence, parliament, government and prominent researches are invited.

When Princess Ingrid Alexandra baptises the ship, the traditional champagne bottle will be replaced by a big block of Norwegian polar ice. That was how Roald Amundsen baptised the ship “Maud “, which was Norway’s last special-purpose research vessel, in 1917, and named after Queen Maud. Queen Maud was Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s great-grandmother.

“This will be a joyful day for Norway as a polar nation. It is especially pleasing that the Princess will be godmother when the ship is called up after her father. The Royal Family has shown special interest in polar research for several generations”, said Misund to state TV, NRK. This will not be the first time that Princess Ingrid Alexandra baptises a ship. In 2015 she was godmother of the rescue boat “Elias”.

“Crown Prince Haakon” is Norway’s new flagship in polar research vessel; it has cost 1.4 billion NOK to build and has Tromsø as a home port. The in-depth research vessel has become one of the world’s most advanced ships, with both a helicopter hanger and remote controlled submarine as part of the standard equipment.

The ship has room for 35 researchers, which can work in twelve different laboratories throughout the year. Already, the ship has been on its first trip, in the sea between Svalbard and Greenland. The ceremony in Tromsø will be broadcast live on Norwegian TV, and Royal Central will keep you updated.

Featured image: The ship “Maud” (Anders Beer Wilse via Wikimedia Commons)

Princess Marie of Denmark to attend International Stop Wasting Food dinner

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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November 1, 2018

NordenBladet – On November 13th, Princess Marie will be the guest of honour at a dinner hosted by the Stop Wasting Food Movement. The international Stop Wasting Food Dinner will be hosted by Selina Juul and the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Denmark Henk Swarttouw and will focus on the fight against food waste. In addition to Princess Marie, guests will include the Danish Minister for Environment and Food Jakob Ellemann-Jensen and high-level leaders from organisations and businesses.

The hope is to make this dinner an annual tradition with a different embassy hosting each year, and the dinner’s primary focus is to give the inspiration to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 which is to halve the global food waste by 2030. The dinner will be a menu made out of surplus food and prepared by Dutch chef Lucas Jeffries – who works at the InStock restaurant which fights against food waste- and Danish chef Martin Jacobsen – who works at the Kadeau and the Nabo restaurants. The guests will have the opportunity to take the leftovers home in biodegradable boxes.

About hosting the dinner, Henk Swarttouw said: “During the last 10 years, the Danish consumers are starting to become aware of the gigantic food waste in Denmark, which annually reaches 700.000 tonnes. It’s also important to get all the decision makers onboard the agenda – and that is why we are hosting this dinner; to activate and inspire Denmark’s leading key stakeholders, who can anchor the agenda in their respective organisations and projects.“

Princess Marie has been focusing on the fight against food waste a lot in the past few years. This year alone, she helped launched new material focusing on food waste in schools, opened the first Too Good To Go store in Denmark, attended the World Food Summit of which she is the patron, visited the Danish Food Bank and hosted ten school children in her home to teach them about food waste.

About Princess Marie attending the dinner, Selina Juul – the founder of the Stop Wasting Food Movement and a member of the coalition fighting to achieve the UN goal – said: “We are very thankful that H.R.H. Princess Marie will participate in our dinner against food waste – and we are very delighted for the Princess’ enthusiasm in the fight against food waste. Earlier this year in Stop Wasting Food, we had honor and pleasure to prepare a lunch with focusing on food waste at the Princess’ own home together with the Princess, the Princess’ children, and ten school children.”

Featured image: Princess Marie (Screenshot DR1/ Fair Use)

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway attends the funeral of war hero, Joachim Rønneberg

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Helena-Reet Ennet

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October 30, 2018

NordenBladet – On Tuesday, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway attended the funeral of one of Norway’s greatest war heroes from the Second World War, Joachim Rønneberg. The funeral was held in clear, sunny weather in Aalesund in the western part of Norway where Rønneberg came from. Joachim was 99-years-old and died of old age at his local retirement home on 21 October. He leaves behind a nation’s gratitude, several children and grandchildren. His wife died in 2015.

His Royal Highness attended the funeral in his Navy uniform and was greeted on arrival by the priest who performed the funeral. Following a quick introduction to the Rønneberg family, the funeral began in the full church with the song “You Raise Me Up”.

Norway’s current Defence Chief, Håkon Bruun-Hanssen said: “He was a patriot, a true officer and a friend of the Norwegian defence”.

Minister of Finance, Siv Jensen also spoke in the funeral. She said: “When we say goodbye to Joachim Rønneberg today, we also take goodbye to a person completely out of the ordinary. Even though he would not be called a hero, it was exactly what he was; a hero who put others in front of himself all his life”.

Joachim Rønneberg, photo taken in earlier this year. Photo: Handout by Norwegian TV NRK on the occasion of the announcing of Rønneberg’s death.

Labour Party leader, Jonas Gahr Støre and Defence Minister, Frank Bakke-Jensen were also among those who praised the deceased resistance fighter.

Joachim Rønneberg (99), who was a member of Kompani Linge from 1941 to 1945, is best known for leading the famous heavy water operation at Vemork in February 1943. Operation Gunnerside resulted in Rønneberg and his soldiers placing explosive charges on the massive water electrolysis chambers of the Vemork plant. A Thompson submachine gun was purposely left behind to indicate that this was the work of British forces and not of the local resistance, to try to avoid reprisals.

The raid was considered successful. The entire inventory of heavy water produced during the German occupation, over 500 kg was destroyed along with equipment critical to the operation of the electrolysis chambers. Although 3,000 German soldiers were dispatched to search the area for the commandos, all of them escaped; five of them skied 400 kilometres to Sweden, two proceeded to Oslo where they assisted Milorg, and four remained in the region for further work with the resistance.

Rønneberg received several Norwegian and foreign awards, including the War Cross with Sword and the royal St. Olav Medal. The funeral was held at the expense of the state, as an honorary gift usually given to leading political leaders, politicians and soldiers.

Featured image: Joachim Rønneberg´s funeral (Press Office of the Norwegian office of war veterans from World War II)

Norwegian Royal Family celebrate King Karl Johan with a series of lectures at Royal Palace

By

Helena-Reet Ennet

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October 28, 2018

NordenBladet – This year marks 200 years since Karl Johan became King of Norway and Sweden. This has been celebrated with significant events in both nations, now separated from each other, each having its own royal house. Although, both King Harald of Norway and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden descended from King Karl Johan. One of the very last events in celebrating Karl Johan is now taking place in November in Norway.

The Norwegian Royal Family has decided to end the Karl Johan anniversary with four lectures on the life of King Karl Johan. The lectures will be on Tuesdays in November at the Royal Palace in Oslo.

There will be a total of four lectures, and they are:

– Historian and Senior Europe Correspondent for Royal Central, Oskar Aanmoen will, on 6 November, talk about his last book, Karl Johan’s Coronation Journey in 1818.
– Historian Bård Frydelund, on 13 November, is to speak about Karl Johan as a strategist.
– Professor Emeritus Thomas Thiis-Evensen, will on Tuesday 20 November, talk about King Karl Johan and the heritage from Rome.
– Cultural historian Nina Høye, will, on Tuesday, 27 November, discuss the House of Bernadotte’s plans for royal homes in Christiania.

Those who visited the Royal Palace in Oslo this summer saw a brand new exhibition on King Karl Johan in the main rooms of the palace. The original uniform Karl Johan wore during the coronation in 1818 was exhibited together with Karl Johan’s bed as he used during his visits to Oslo during his reign and some of his personal belongings.

King Karl Johan (1763-1818-1844), originally Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, was born in the south of France and became a soldier 17-years-old. In 1810 there was a political and constitutional crisis in Sweden. The Riksdag chose Jean Baptiste Bernadotte to be King Carl XIII’s successor. It happened in Örebro in August 1810.

Karl Johan had to go to war in Norway in 1814 to get Norway to accept the union. After a short military campaign, the convention in Moss was signed, and on 4 November 1814 Carl Johan’s adoptive father, Carl XIII, was elected Norwegian King as King Carl II. Carl II died in 1818, and his adoptive son became King of Norway and Sweden.

On August, His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf and Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden attended a seminar at Ørebro Castle in Sweden in connection with the 200th anniversary of King Karl Johan’s ascension to the throne. The workshop “The Coronation year of 1818” was held in the main hall at Ørebro Castle in Sweden. The guests where mainly historians and politicians from the Nordic countries as well as Russia, France and Great Britain.

Royal Central’s Senior Europe Correspondent, Oskar Aanmoen has published his book this autumn about King Karl Johan’s journey in Norway in 1818. He had the honour to hand over a copy of the book to Their Majesties the King and Queen when they left the castle. Aanmoen describes the royals as “very nice and warm people who showed great interest in the book”.

Featured image: King Karl Johan (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

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