Mats Qviberg

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Mats Qviberg (born 1953 in Stockholm) is a Swedish businessman. Together with his close business partner Sven Hagströmer, Qviberg is in control of a group companies which, among others, include Hagströmer & Qviberg and Investment AB Öresund.

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[edit] Youth and Education

Mats Qviberg was born in central Stockholm. His father worked at a factory owned by General Motors. Qviberg went to school in Bromma outside the city centre and completed his military service in Strängnäs.

He graduated with a degree in business from Stockholm School of Economics.

[edit] Early career

Qviberg started his career with Swedish bank SEB, where he became a stock broker in 1981. He was incredibly successful and in 1984 he joined Carnegie Investment Bank, a major player on the Swedish financial markets. At Carnegie he met Sven Hagströmer.

[edit] Hagströmer & Qviberg

In 1990, Qviberg became a partner in Hagströmer's company and it was renamed to reflect that. Together with Hagströmer, Qviberg built a financial empire beginning with the acquisition of Investment AB Öresund in 1992. Through partly unconventional methods many companies were taken over, sometimes upsetting traditionalist Swedish businessmen like Percy Barnevik. Barnevik served on the Board of Directors of AB Custos, an ancient investment company, which Qviberg and Hagströmer gradually took over.

Today, they control a number of companies. Qviberg is the Chief Executive Officer of Öresund and Chairman of Hagströmer & Qviberg, while Hagströmer is Chairman of Öresund.

[edit] Political Views

Mats Qviberg has been known to make comments on current affairs. He has defined himself as allmänborgerlig, which means he is a supporter of Sweden's non-socialist opposition parties.

He caused some controversy during the campaign preceding the referendum on the Euro in 2003. He first came out in support of the Euro, even taking part in advertisements for Sweden in Europe. Meanwhile, Sven Hagströmer was an outspoken opponent of the euro. Close to the referendum, Qviberg changed his mind and joined the no side. When Prime Minister Göran Persson was asked to comment upon Qviberg's defection, Persson claimed that he did not know who Qviberg was. Qviberg replied by saying that Persson was a bully and that he was probably lying.

In early 2006, Qviberg drew attention to himself again by writing a series of articles in Svenska Dagbladet attacking the trend of corporate social responsibility and what he perceives as too much emphasis on business ethics.

[edit] Personal

He lives with his wife in Lidingö. He is the richest individual in that municipality. His son, Johan, sits on the Board of Directors of one of the companies which Qviberg is connected to. His other children are Anna and Jacob, Jacob being the youngest.