Jan Audun Reinås (19 July 1944 – 13 August 2010) was a Norwegian

businessperson A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

Early career

Reinås was educated in business administration through the

Norwegian State Railways 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 *Norwegian language, including the two ...

. He first worked for the bus and ferry company

Fosen Trafikklag Fosen Trafikklag is a company operating buses and ferries in Trøndelag and Østlandet in Norway. In total the company has approximately 750 vehicles and 16 ships, though numerous of them operate by subsidiaries. The company merged with Namos T ...

, before taking over as chief financial officer of

Trondheim Trafikkselskap Trondheim Trafikkselskap or TT was the city public transport company for Trondheim, Norway between 1974 and 2001. It operated both the city buses, and the Trondheim Tramway until 1988. The company was owned by the city council. TT was founded in ...

(TT), the bus and tram company in Trondheim, in 1983. In 1984, Reinås became the company's second CEO, after Arne Watle. When TT was converted from a municipal agency to a limited company, the board chose to give Reinås a raise of NOK 50,000, giving him a wage exceeding even the chief of administration. Along with his successor Gunnar Reitan, Reinås helped developed TT from a company focused around operational costs, to a company focused on a broader aspect of service, and they managed to increase the ridership during the late 1980s. He also led the company through parts of a heated

controversy Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...

over whether Trondheim should have a tramway or not. He left TT in March 1986 and started working for Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS).

Later career

Reinås was

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Scandinavian Airlines System The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), commonly known as Scandinavian Airlines, is the Flag carrier, national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is part of SAS Group and is headquartered in Solna Municipality, Solna, Sweden. Including ...

from 1993 to 1994, and of

Norske Skog Norske Skog ASA, formerly Norske Skogindustrier ASA, which translates as ''Norwegian Forest Industries'', is a Norwegian pulp and paper company established in 1962. The company has long been one of the world's leading manufacturers of newsprint ...

from 1994 to 2003. In 2003 he was elected

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

. He was forced to withdraw after an options scandal in the company on 5 August 2007, after Minister of Trade and Industry,

Dag Terje Andersen Dag Terje Andersen (born 27 May 1957 in Frogn, Akershus) is a Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. In addition to professional politics he has worked at a steel mill and as a lumberjack, something that has given him a reputation fo ...

( Labour) pressured him to resign his position in the partially state-owned company. Reinås was also chairman of

Sparebanken Midt-Norge SpareBank 1 SMN is a Norwegian savings bank based in Trøndelag. The bank has 71 branches in 51 municipalities in Central Norway and is part of the bank alliance SpareBank 1. In Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag the bank is branded SpareBank ...

, Postverket and the

Controversy

Reinås received criticism for his decisions both as CEO of Norske Skog and as Chairman of Norsk Hydro. In the ten years he led Norske Skog, the company grew enormously, concentrating solely on

newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has ...

and purchasing other plants for

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...

50 billion. At the same time the corporation sold non-newsprint mills,

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s, forest properties and other non-core activities. After Reinås retired, critics felt that he had left Norske Skog in a strategic impossible situation. The newsprint market was falling constantly, primarily because of over production in North America as well as because of reduced circulation of newspapers. This has left the newsprint market in chronic overproduction, making profitability impossible. Unlike other large paper corporations, such as

Stora Enso Stora Enso Oyj (from and ) is a Finnish and Swedish forest industry company. It develops and produces various materials, mostly based on wood, for a range of industries and applications worldwide. It has headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, an ...

, Norske Skog was left without other types of paper production to support it. By 2007 the share value was under the 1993 level, and the company was constantly struggling before filing for bankruptcy in 2017.

Death

He died at the age of 66 of cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinaas, Jan 1944 births 2010 deaths Norske Skog people Norwegian State Railways (1883–1996) people Norsk Hydro people SAS Group people Norwegian airline chief executives Trondheim Tramway people Deaths from cancer in Norway