Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner (Icelandic: Jón; born 29 August 1967 in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

) is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

ic-

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 ...

programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

and businessman. He is the co-founder and CEO of

Vivaldi Technologies Vivaldi Technologies AS is a Norwegian software development company, most known for its creation of the Vivaldi Browser. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, it was founded in 2013 by Jon von Tetzchner and Tatsuki Tomita. Tetzchner was one of the fo ...

. Before starting the Vivaldi Web browser, he launched a community site called Vivaldi.net. Tetzchner is also a co-founder and the former CEO of

Opera Software Opera is a Norwegian multinational technology company and subsidiary of Kunlun that specializes in web browser development, fintech, as well as services such as Opera News and YoYo Games. The company's total user base, including users of it ...

Early life

Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner is the son of the Icelander Elsa Jónsdóttir and the Norwegian Stephen von Tetzchner, a professor of psychology (and the brother of politician

Michael Tetzschner Michael Christian von Tetzschner (born 9 February 1954 in Copenhagen, Denmark), commonly known as Michael Tetzschner, is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He is the President of the Nordic Council during 2018. Tetzschner was G ...

). Jon Stephenson grew up around Skólabraut in the

suburb of

Seltjarnarnes Seltjarnarnes () is a town in the Capital Region of Iceland. Seltjarnarnes is beside Reykjavik. It took on its current political form shortly after the Second World War and was formally created as a township in 1947. It is the smallest Icelandic ...

with his grandparents, the doctor Jón Gunnlaugsson and Selma Kaldalóns, the daughter of the doctor and composer

Sigvaldi Kaldalóns Sigvaldi Kaldalóns (Stefánsson) (13 January 1881 – 28 July 1946) was an Icelandic composer and doctor. Unlike the avant-garde composers of his day, he wrote in a traditional romantic style and composed many of Iceland's most famous and widely ...

. Tetzchner went to secondary school at the

Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (MR; official name in English: Reykjavik Junior College) is a junior college in Iceland. It is located in Reykjavík. The school traces its origin to 1056, when a school was established in Skálholt, and it remains o ...

before continuing his studies in Norway, where he made his career. Tetzchner holds a master's degree in computer science from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

Opera Software

Tetzchner worked at the

state phone company (now known as

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwi ...

) from 1991 to 1995. There, he and

Geir Ivarsøy Geir Ivarsøy (June 27, 1957 – March 9, 2006) was the lead programmer at Opera Software. He and Jon von Tetzchner were part of a research group at the Norwegian state phone company (now known as Telenor) where they developed browsing software c ...

developed browsing software called MultiTorg Opera. The project was abandoned by Telenor, but Ivarsøy and von Tetzchner obtained the rights to the software, formed a company named

in 1995 and continued working on the

Opera browser Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

. In 1996 it was offered for sale to the public. On 21 April 2005, Tetzchner proclaimed at an internal meeting of Opera Software that if the download numbers of the browser's new version

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

8 reached one million within four days, he would swim across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

from Norway to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Two days later, on the 23rd, the downloads reached 1,050,000 and Tetzchner had to fulfill his challenge. The Opera site covered the swim and his quick failure. Under his leadership, Jon turned

into a global company with more than 750 employees in 13 countries. Opera was an early pioneer in mobile web browser and more than 350 million people use Opera. In January 2010, Tetzchner stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of

, but he continued to serve Opera as a strategic adviser. In June 2011, Tetzchner announced that he was leaving

over disagreements with management.

Vivaldi Technologies

In December 2013, Tetzchner founded the company

and launched the

online community An online community, also called an internet community or web community, is a community whose members interact with each other primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, online communities may fe ...

site vivaldi.net, which includes a forum, blogs, chat, photo sharing and a free email service name
Vivaldi Mail
On 27 January 2015, Vivaldi Technologies announced the release of its new web browser

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widesprea ...

. Its 1.0 version came out in April 2016. Jon von Tetzchner and his team are making a personal and a feature-rich browser that takes into consideration the needs of every user. Vivaldi is self-funded and aims to be this way where the employees hold equity.

References

External links

*
Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner's blog at Vivaldi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tetzchner, Jon Stephenson Von 1967 births Living people 21st-century Icelandic businesspeople Opera Software employees Icelandic people of Norwegian descent

von The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''. Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de ...