The list of what the financial newspaper Kapital has calculated as the country’s 400 richest is ready. At the top we once again find shipowner John Fredriksen. According to Kapital, he is worth NOK 235 billion. See who the twenty richest are further down in the case. But even if Fredriksen is firmly at the top, there is a development. If we add up the wealth of everyone on the list, the value is NOK 2,139 billion. 48.5 per cent of this is managed in whole or in part from abroad. Billionaire Kjartan Aas’s fortune is part of this percentage. He moved to Switzerland in 2021 because of the wealth tax. Aas says the tax was higher than the income and that he therefore had to move. Aas is number 297 on Kapital’s list of the 400 richest. Photo: ISMAIL BURAK AKKAN Since then he has seen more and more coming after, but Aas has become skeptical. – A while ago I was at a dinner where I live, with 70 Norwegians. I was the oldest. That’s what’s terrifying. Aas believes that Norway is missing out on both development and competence by the fact that more young people choose to move out of Norway because of taxes. Switzerland is ranked number 5 on the organization Tax Justice Network’s list of the world’s largest tax havens. – It will only get worse and worse. I think that this will take a long time to rectify because people will not move back if the property tax is removed. There is irreparable damage that has been done. – Signal effect Professor of economic history at the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Ola H. Grytten, is also concerned about the development. – The signal effect is that Norwegians with large capital, large wealth, they move out. If you are a foreigner, do you want to invest in Norway, or do you not? Professor Ola H. Grytten believes that the consequences of tax shifting are becoming so great that we must look at the possibilities. Photo: Gerd Johanne Braadland / news Hordaland Aas acknowledges that the billionaires’ move has consequences for Norway. – Do you feel it? – Not at all. You cannot have a bad conscience because the wealth tax is higher than your income. It’s late at night, says Aas. – Does that also have consequences for the welfare state? – Everyone wants to pay tax, but when it becomes too much, in the end it doesn’t work. I moved early because my business was of a nature that was hit very early. Earn the most abroad The figures for Kapital show that those who move abroad also have the highest returns. – What we see is that the investors who have flagged all or part of their wealth out are doing twice as well in terms of returns as the patriots who have stayed in Norway, says Kapital editor Vibeke Holth. She believes there are several reasons for this, both investment in the international market and willingness to take risks. At the same time, wealth tax plays a big role, she says. – It goes without saying that when you escape some of the taxes that those back home in Norway have to pay, you will do better. Tax also has a cost. Several billionaires have moved to the Swiss city of Lugano. Kjell Inge Røkke is one of them. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg Professor Grytte believes that we must assess whether the current tax system is good enough. – What you gain from having wealth tax, if you calculate it against lost tax revenue and signaling effect, these things start to become so important in the balance that you have to start thinking about it. He acknowledges that this will give those who have moved out great influence on politics. – But you have to start paying attention to it and not just say that it is badly done. See which countries Norway’s 20 richest live in. Richest abroad The three richest according to Kapital live abroad. At the top is, as mentioned, shipowner John Fredriksen. He is worth more than a quarter of a trillion, i.e. NOK 253 billion, and lives in Croatia. Next on the list doesn’t even have half of Fredriksen’s fortune, but still a lot of money. Torstein Hagen has taken up cruises and, according to Kapital, has a fortune of NOK 92 billion. He lives in Switzerland. Torstein Hagen is the head of the company Viking Cruise. Photo: Ørjan Ellingvåg / NTB Third place this year goes to hedge fund manager Ole Andreas Halvorsen. He is based in the USA, and has a fortune of NOK 76 billion. Halvorsen was in second place on last year’s list, but this year was overtaken by Hagen. Norway’s twenty richest John Fredriksen (Croatia), 253 billion Torstein Hagen (Switzerland), 92 billion Ole Andreas Halvorsen (USA), 76 billion Odd Reitan (Norway/Switzerland), 69 billion Johan Johansson (Norway), 55, 50 billion Johan H. Andresen (Norway), 50 billion Gustav Witzøe (Norway), 49.50 billion Kjell Inge Røkke (Switzerland), 35.50 billion Stein Erik Hagen (Switzerland), 28.50 billion Petter Stordalen (Norway), 23.00 billion Svein Støle (Switzerland), 18.50 billion Bjørn Rune Gjelsten (Norway), 18 billion Lars Wenaas (Norway), 17.50 billion Tore Lærdal (Norway), 17 billion Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen (Great Britain), 16.50 billion Ole Ertvaag (Norway), 16.50 billion Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen (Switzerland), 16.50 billion Peter Preben Wilhelmsen (Great Britain), 16.50 billion Bent Christian Wilhelmsen (Switzerland), 16.50 billion Torstein Ingvald Tvenge (Norway), 16.50 billion Source: Kapital Few women Both when we look at those in and outside Norway, Kapital’s list is dominated by men. According to Kapital, the 28 richest Norwegians are men. Else Helene Sundt is heir to the shipowner Petter Sundt, and Norway’s richest woman, according to Kapital. Photo: Press image Only in 29th place do we find a woman. It is heiress Ellen Helene Sundt with a fortune of 11 billion. In total, there are 59 women on the list of the 400 richest in this country. Only five have created the fortune on their own. One of these is Norway’s first lottery billionaire, according to Kapital. Published 19.09.2024, at 21.56
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Half of Norway’s 400 largest assets are managed from abroad – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
