Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson
Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, known internationally as Thor Bjorgolfsson, and colloquially in Iceland as Bjöggi, is an Icelandic businessman and entrepreneur, and former chairman of Straumur-Burðarás and chairman of Novator Partners. As of June 2019, he is the richest person in Iceland and 1,115th richest person in the world according to Forbes. Björgólfur has invested in a number of larger companies and smaller startups, including Play—a Polish telecom outfit, Rebag—the luxury handbag marketplace, and Zwift—an online platform for indoor cycling. Other companies invested in by Björgólfur and Novator include Xantis Pharma, Klang, and Lockwood Publishing.
Björgólfur was the first Icelander to join Forbes magazine
However, due to the financial crisis of 2007–2010, Björgólfur
Early life and career
Björgólfur Thor is heir to a long family legacy in Icelandic business and politics. His great-grandfather was the legendary Danish-born Icelandic entrepreneur Thor Jensen, who helped introduce industrial capitalism to the country in the early years of the twentieth century. The eighth of Thor Jensen's eleven children was Margrét Þorbjörg Thors Hallgrímsson, whose daughter Þóra Hallgrímsson had Björgólfur Thor as her only child by her third husband Björgólfur Guðmundsson.Björgólfur Thor grew up in the Reykjavík suburb of Vesturbær. A sketch of Björgólfur Thor's early life is offered by Ármann Þorvaldsson:
Graduating from the prestigious Commercial College of Iceland in 1987, he followed in the footsteps of some of his siblings and moved to the US, in a move he has portrayed as an attempt to escape an Iceland where he felt an outsider. He began higher education at the University of California, San Diego, later transferring to the Leonard N Stern School of Business at New York University, graduating with a B.S. in Marketing in 1991.
While studying, Björgólfur Thor took a variety of vacation jobs, including managing events at Reykjavík's two biggest clubs: Tunglið and Skuggabarinn. As a result, in 1991, he met Kristín Ólafsdóttir, now a film-maker; they married in 2010. They have three children, Daniel, Lorenz, and Bentina. They currently live primarily in London, United Kingdom.
In 1991, Björgólfur Thor went to Russia along with his father and a friend, Magnús Þorsteinsson. The Icelandic businessmen, together with Russian partners, founded the bottling company Baltic Bottling Plant, which they sold to Pepsi. Next they founded a brewing company, originally called ООО "Торговый дом "РОСА" and eventually registered as Bravo International JSC by December 1997. Six companies registered in Limassol, Cyprus were responsible for establishing Bravo and Björgólfur Thor was president of all of them. Bravo Brewery became the fastest-growing brewery in Russia at the time, primarily through the production of the premium beer Botchkarov. Heineken bought the brewery for $325m in 2002.
In 2000, Russia opened an honorary consulate in Iceland. Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson was appointed Consul and Magnús Þorsteinsson was appointed Honorary Vice-Consul. The opening ceremony was held on March 10, 2000. In his book, Billions to Bust and Back, Björgólfur Thor chronicles his time in St Petersburg, detailing how criminal elements tried to intimidate him into giving them access to his business and explaining which security measures he relied on to prevent them from doing so.
Businesses in Iceland
After leaving Russia, Björgólfur Thor started investing in several Icelandic firms in 2002. By 2006, he was a celebrity for his business success, with an eight-page-long profile in the Sunday supplement of the Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið written about him.Novator Partners
Novator Partners, which was founded and is managed by Björgólfur Thor, is a private equity firm with headquarters in London and offices in Luxembourg. Preferring to take a board seat in its portfolio companies, the firm tends to invest in companies in the telecommunications, generic pharmaceuticals, information technology, natural resources, and financial services sectors.
Landsbanki
Late in 2002, Björgólfur Thor and Björgólfur Guðmundsson's holding company Samson ehf. gained a 45% controlling share of Landsbanki, Iceland's second largest bank, for about ISK12m in a controversial privatization. The board was announced in February 2003, with the chairman being Björgólfur Thor's father.
Straumur Investment Bank
Björgólfur Thor was the main owner as well as the chairman of the Straumur Investment Bank.
Financial crisis
Two of Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson's companies, Landsbanki and Straumur, went bankrupt following the 2008–11 Icelandic financial crisis and the government of Iceland decided to assume responsibility for the banks. He has been heavily criticized for his actions leading to the crisis. However, he has claimed that he urged the government of Iceland not to take over the bank and that he did his utmost to prevent Icelanders and the state of Iceland from having to assume responsibility. He also has asserted that as a large shareholder in a bank, one does not have as much influence as many believe and that it is the job of the bank's management and board to formulate good policy. He said that he was not a member of the board or a managing director of the bank and that his policy suggestions were ignored by the government of Iceland.Two days after the publication of the Icelandic government report on the financial crisis on 12 April 2010, Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson issued a public apology in the Icelandic newspaper, Fréttablaðið, for his role in the crisis:
I the undersigned, Björgólfur Thor, request forgiveness from all Icelanders for my role in the asset- and debt-bubble that led to the collapse of the Icelandic banking system. I request your forgiveness for my complacency towards the danger signs which arose. I request forgiveness for having not succeeded in following my instincts when I realised the danger. I request your forgiveness.
Business after the crisis
Although Björgólfur Thor's fortunes were reduced by the financial crisis, leading him to cancel the construction of a £100m luxury yacht, he has continued to prosper overall. He has defended his reputation by disputing government and journalistic criticisms of his role in the 2008 financial crisis on his website, through letters to newspapers, and through legal action.In December 2013, the website "The Automatic Earth" reported:
Mr Bjorgolfsson still leads Novator Partners, a London-based investment firm, sits on several boards and holds shares in companies including Actavis, a Swiss drugmaker, and CCP, an Icelandic computer games company. His representative says any dividends from his shares, or future gains from their sale, will go towards settling debts to creditors following Landsbanki's decline.
In 2015, Björgólfur Thor and his father were mentioned in the Panama Papers as having connections to at least 50 offshore companies in tax havens established through Mossack Fonseca.
In November 2017, Björgólfur Thor was named in the Paradise Papers together with Gísli Hjálmtýsson, Róbert Guðfinnsson, and a number of Iceland's National Power Company employees. The listed companies connected to Björgólfsson were registered in Bermuda.
Björgólfur Thor was one of the lead investors in Atai Life Sciences AG's 2018 funding rounds. Atai Life is a healthcare investment firm that backs studies of magic mushrooms to treat depression. According to a Bloomberg report, the round Björgólfur Thor participated in raised $25 million.
Appearances in popular culture
Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson is the inspiration for the main character of Bjarni Harðarson's satirical novel about the 2008–11 Icelandic financial crisis, Sigurðar saga fóts: Íslensk riddarasaga, where his counterpart is the main character, Sigurður frits Bjarnhéðinsson. He is also the inspiration for the main character of Bjarni Bjarnason's novel Mannorð, Starkaður Leví, who pays for the identity of a well respected writer.Björgólfur Thor and his great-grandfather Thor Jensen are the subject of the 2011 documentary film Thors saga by Ulla Boje Rasmussen.