Hans Rausing

Hans Rausing

Hans Rausing with Tetra Brik, 1963
Born (1926-03-25) 25 March 1926
Gothenburg, Sweden
Nationality Swedish
Alma mater Lund University
Occupation Businessman
Known for Tetra Pak
Net worth Decrease US$12.5 billion (June 2015)[1]
Spouse(s) Märit Rausing
Children Lisbet, Sigrid, and Hans Kristian Rausing
Parent(s) Ruben Rausing

Sir Hans Rausing, KBE[1] (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.[2][3] 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 2016, Forbes reported his net worth as $12.5B.[1] As of 17 May 2013, Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated Rausing's net worth to be $13.3 billion.[4]

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

Rausing studied Economics, Statistics and Russian at Lund University, graduating in 1948.[5] In 1954, at the age of 28, Rausing was appointed Managing Director of Tetra Pak, while his brother Gad became Deputy Managing Director.[6] Rausing retained this post until 1985, when he took over as Chairman of the Board.[6] Rausing left Tetra Pak in 1993 and sold his 50% share of the company to Gad in 1995 in what was at the time called the largest private buyout ever in Europe.[7]

Much of the enormous success of Tetra Pak in the 1970s and 1980s has been credited to the leadership of Hans and Gad Rausing, who literally took the company from a six-person family business to a global multi-national corporation.[7] Over the course of his business career, Rausing became a specialist in Russian affairs and has made many private investments in both Russia and Ukraine. He was responsible for the Russian market within Tetra Pak, and negotiated the first Tetra Pak machine export to the then Soviet Union in 1959, eventually making Tetra Pak the largest foreign employer in Russia.[8]

Patronage

Hans Rausing 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.[9][10] Through the Märit and Hans Rausing Fund, they support local community projects in their home county of Sussex.[11]

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.[12][13][14] The University of Cambridge Department of History and Philosophy of Science hosts an Annual Hans Rausing Lecture.[15]

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.[16] 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, Lisbet and Sigrid, and one son, Hans Kristian Rausing.

Rausing has been a resident of the UK since 1982.[17] He currently lives in Wadhurst, East Sussex.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 The World's Billionaires — #73 Hans Rausing, Forbes.
  2. ↑ Yang Ning, "Creating a Benchmark for Recycling Rubbish", China Daily, 20 June 2011, retrieved 7 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "Tetra Pak launches next generation cheese production unit", Packaging Europe News, 11 November 2011, retrieved 11 November 2011.
  4. ↑ Forbes Billionaires Sweden 2013.
  5. ↑ Leander, Lars, Tetra Pak. A Vision Becomes Reality. A company history with a difference, Lund: Tetra Pak International, 1996 (ISBN 91-630-4789-6), p. 33.
  6. 1 2 Leander (1996), p. 29.
  7. 1 2 Frederick C. Ingram, "Tetra Pak International SA", International Directory of Company Histories, 2003. Encyclopedia.com, retrieved 22 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Hans Rausing European Business Forum, retrieved 4 November 2011.
  9. ↑ Hans and Märit Rausing, Karolinska Institutet, retrieved 4 November 2011.
  10. ↑ Hans Rausing Medicine Hedersdoktor, Lund University, retrieved 4 November 2011.
  11. ↑ Professor and Mrs Hans Rausing, Sussex Community Foundation, retrieved 4 November 2011.
  12. ↑ The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, retrieved 7 November 2011.
  13. ↑ The Hans Rausing Scholarship in History of Science, Imperial College, retrieved 7 November 2011.
  14. ↑ The Hans Rausing Lectures, Uppsala University, retrieved 7 November 2011.
  15. ↑ Annual Hans Rausing Lecture, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge.
  16. ↑ Hans Rausing European Business Forum, retrieved 4 November 2011
  17. ↑ "Rausing family values: the dark side of a dynasty", The Independent, 11 April 2008, retrieved 10 November 2011.
  18. ↑ Nick Davies, "Playing the System", The Guardian, 11 April 2002, retrieved 10 November 2011.
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