Christen Sveaas (born 18 June 1956) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

businessman, investor, art collector and donor. He is the founder and sole owner of Kistefos AS, vice chairman of the board of the Kistefos Museum and chairman of the board of Anders Sveaas Allmennyttige Fond.

Background

Christen Sveaas was born in Oslo, and was awarded a degree from the

University of St. Gallen A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1981. His paternal grandfather is

Anders Sveaas Anders Sveaas (November 27 1840 – August 24 1917) was a Norwegian businessperson and consulate. He was the founder of the Kistefos Wood Pulp Mill in Jevnaker, Norway. Biography Anders Sveaas was born on November 27th, 1840 on the Haug farm ...

(1840–1917), who founded the company

Kistefos Træsliberi The Kistefos Wood Pulp Mill ( no, Kistefos Træsliberi) is a former pulp mill and hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power plant in Jevnaker, Norway. It was founded by Kistefos at the river Ranelva, Randselva in 1889. History The mill was founded ...

in 1889. The company was sold by the family to Viul Tresliperi in 1985, against Christen Sveaas' wish. Christen Sveaas started his first investment company in 1979, and, from 1982 to 1985, he worked at Grieg Finans before becoming independent. He made a series of successful investments (

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, he bought back 85% of the shares in Kistefos Træsliberi. He also merged several companies into the new investment company Kistefos, where he is the sole owner and chairman of the board. The company Kistefos has investments in dry cargo-

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...

, offshore supply vessels,

financial services Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

, technology founded investments and

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parcels ...

. Kistefos Træsliberi has interests in

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

(about ), and related industrial activities in addition to various financial investments. Sveaas initiated the Kistefos Museum, the original and fully intact wood pulp mill from 1889, of which he is the main sponsor. Since 1997, the Kistefos-Museum has been developed and now comprises a famous sculpture park. He has also sponsored the Vigeland Museum and the Vigeland sculpture park in Frogner Park. Sveaas is a serious collector of contemporary art and sculptures, and is also a wine connoisseur. At a point in time, he was rumoured to own the largest private wine cellar in the world. Sveaas was also the owner of two star Guide Michelin restaurant Bagatelle in Oslo for about 20 years, which world award-winning Chef

Eyvind Hellstrøm Eyvind Hellstrøm (born 2 December 1948) is a Norwegian chef and formerly the part owner of Bagatelle restaurant, a two- Michelin-starred restaurant in the city of Oslo. He was the president of the 2008 Bocuse d'Or Europe, is frequently a judge a ...

left in 2009. Sveaas has served on several boards,

Orkla Group Orkla ASA is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the branded consumer goods, aluminium solutions and financial investment sectors. Orkla ASA is listed on the Os ...

Stolt-Nielsen Stolt-Nielsen Limited (SNL) provides transportation and storage for liquids, notably specialty and bulk liquid chemicals. It also has an aquaculture division that grows turbot and other fish and fish products. Founded in 1959, corporate services ...

, Tschudi & Eitzen, Vestenfjeldske Bykreditt, SkipsKredittforeningen and privately owned Treschow-Fritzøe. Furthermore, he is the chairman of the board for the Anders Sveaas Almennyttige Fond, a Norwegian charitable foundation founded in 1990, which owns several antique string instruments, among which are two Stradivarius Violins and one Stradivarius Cello. Its focus is to support organisations without relevant public funding, and young promising classical musicians through scholarships and instrument loans. Sveaas is a member of Dean's Council, Executive Committee at Harvard Kennedy School. Sveaas is also a founding member of the Metropolitan Museum International Council in New York and member of Tate International Council in London. Furthermore, he is a global patron of

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...

and a member of HSG Advisory Board at the

Honors

Sveaas is a Commander of the Order of Merit in the Republic of Italy and a Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav for his contribution to the Arts.

Political relations

Politically, he has supported the Progress Party, and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

ahead of the

2001 Norwegian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 9 and 10 September 2001.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1438 The governing Labour Party lost seats and their vote share was the worst they had ever ...

, 2009 and 2013, and the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

ahead of the

2007 Norwegian local elections Country-wide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway on 10 September 2007, with some areas polling on 9 September as well. For most places this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and ...

and 2015, and

2009 Norwegian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 13 and 14 September 2009. Elections in Norway are held on a Monday in September, usually the second or third Monday, as determined by the king. Early voting was possible between 10 August and 11 Sep ...

and 2013.

Family and personal life

Christen Sveaas is the son of Anders Sveaas jr (Son of Consul Anders Sveaas, founder of AS Kistefos Træsliberi) and Marit Sveaas (née Hansen, granddaughter of Consul Hans Jørginus Hansen from Trondheim), and grew up in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sveaas, Christen 1956 births Living people Businesspeople from Oslo Norwegian expatriates in Switzerland Venture capitalists University of St. Gallen alumni Norwegian art collectors Norwegian restaurateurs Harvard Kennedy School people Norwegian landowners Gay men LGBT businesspeople from Norway 21st-century LGBT people Collectors from Oslo Philanthropists from Oslo