Coming out of the cold - Iceland’s first billionaire Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson

Bjorgolfsson comes from a strong line of entrepreneurs; his great-grandfather, Thor Jensen, left Denmark aged 15 in 1878, went on to control half a dozen or more businesses, survived bankruptcy twice and ended up as one of Iceland's largest landowners. One son became prime minister; another ambassador to the USA. A son-in-law ran the country's largest shipping line, and a second, Thor's grandfather, headed Shell Iceland (Skeljungur hf.). However, in 1986, Thor’s father, as head of family firm Hafskip, became embroiled in a financial scandal involving accusations of embezzlement and fraud. Thor himself was studying in the United States at the time and many feel that his subsequent quest for wealth has been borne out of his desire to clear the family name.

Today he is Chairman of the Board of Novator Partners LLP, as well as holding significant interests in pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and financial services. He is Chairman of Actavis, a pharmaceutical company with a workforce of over 7,000 people in 12 countries, owns substantial stakes in Ceske Radiokommunicace, and T-Mobile Czech Republic, as well as serving as the lead investor in the consortium awarded the privatisation of BTC, the Bulgarian telecommunications company. In financial services, his principal holding is Landsbanki Islands, the second largest bank in Iceland; and he serves as Chairman of the Board of Burdaras hf and of SAMSON holdings.

Despite living in London with partner Kristin Olafsdottir and young child, Thor is heralded in Iceland for his support of arts and cultural initiatives in his native country and beyond and also manages to find time to represent Iceland in north-west Russia as the General Consul of Iceland. He have provided the financial backing for an Icelandic adaptation of an English interpretation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, produced in London's West End and scheduled for touring in New York City. He also spearheaded Icelandic support for a programme of cultural events at Sofia University in Bulgaria. Sponsored by Actavis and the National Bank of Iceland (both Bjorgolfsson companies), the IceArt initiative aimed to reinforce cultural links between the two countries. Money raised at all the events were donated towards the work of an international women's organisation in Bulgaria, which promotes breast-cancer prevention, research, education and treatment.

Actavis supports philanthropic initiatives in a number of countries, with an emphasis on improving health and the quality of life in local communities, through supporting sports teams, events and cultural affairs in the countries in which it operates. In addition to its support for the IceArt initiative in Bulgaria, Actavis also funded Balkankult, which brought together Balkan and Nordic artists. Other community projects include funding for an internet café established in Leskovac, Serbia, aimed at students, and the donations of medicine to people in need in Afghanistan, in Beslan, Russia, and in South East Asia following the tsunami disaster. Landsbanki Islands has also provided funding to the American Scandinavian Foundation, in particular for its Campaign for Scandinavia House—the Nordic Centre in America and part-sponsored a conference held by the Institute of Economic Studies at the University of Iceland and the International Policy Network, the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages at the University of Iceland and the Vision Akureyri community regeneration project.

www.actavis.com
www.landsbanki.is
Novator Partners LLP25 Park Lane, 6th Floor, London, W1K 1RA, UK.

Extracted from Philanthropy in Europe – Issue 23