The Wallenberg family ( Wallenberg ) is one of Sweden’s most influential families, known for having a significant number of prominent bankers, industrialists, politicians, statesmen and diplomats. The Wallenberg family owns shares in Sweden’s largest manufacturing companies, such as Ericsson , Electrolux , ABB , SAS Group , SKF , AIK , Atlas Copco , etc. In the seventies of the last century, about forty percent of the workforce in Sweden worked at enterprises controlled by the Wallenberg family, and the capitalization of enterprises was about forty percent of the Stockholm stock exchange. [one]
The most famous member of the Wallenberg family is Raoul Wallenberg , the famous Swedish diplomat who saved a large number of Jews from the Holocaust. During his diplomatic mission in Hungary from July to December 1944, Raoul Wallenberg issued Swedish passports to Jews, which saved the lives of tens of thousands of people. [2]
Content
History
The first mention of Wallenberg is associated with Per Hansson ( Swe. Per Hansson , 1670-1741), who in 1692 married Kerstin Jacobsdotter Schule ( Swede Kerstin Jacobsdotter Schuut , 1671-1752). Jakob Persson Wallenberg ( Swede. Jakob Persson Wallberg , 1699-1758), born from the marriage of Pera and Kerstina, was twice married, and the children from each of these marriages were named Wallenberg. [3] Jakob Persson Wallenberg was the great-grandfather of André Oscar Wallenberg ( Swede. André Oscar Wallenberg ), who in 1856 created the predecessor of the modern Swedish bank Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken - Stockholms Enskilda Bank. [one]
Knut Agathon Wallenberg ( Swedish: Knut Agathon Wallenberg ), son of Andre Oscar Wallenberg, in 1886 became director of Stockholms Enskilda Bank. Besides the fact that Knut Wallenberg was the director of Stockholms Enskilda Bank, he, like many other representatives of the Wallenberg family, took an active part in Swedish politics and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1914 to 1917. In addition to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Knut Wallenberg was a member of the Swedish parliament from 1907 to 1919. In 1916, legislation on bank ownership of shares in industrial enterprises in Sweden was tightened, as a result of which Investor was created as an investment unit of Stockholms Enskilda Bank, and Wallenberg family industrial assets were transferred to it.
The younger brother of Knut Wallenberg, Markus Wallenberg ( Swede. Marcus Wallenberg ) continued the family tradition and in 1911 was appointed to the post of director of Stockholms Enskilda Bank. In 1938, Knut Wallenberg died and Marcus Wallenberg joined the Stockholms Enskilda Bank Board of Directors.
During World War II, Stockholms Enskilda Bank actively collaborated with Germany, and United States Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau suspected Jacob Wallenberg of personal sympathy for the Nazis. American authorities imposed sanctions against Stockholms Enskilda Bank, which were lifted only in 1947. [4] [5]
Since 1953, the fourth generation of the Wallenbergs began to play an active role in the family business. In 1953, Stockholms Enskilda Bank's deputy director was Markus Wallenberg's eldest son Mark Wallenberg ( Swede. Marc Wallenberg ), who in 1958 became the full-fledged director of the bank. The generational change in the family business was marked by a series of disagreements between Jacob Wallenberg and Marcus Wallenberg, as a result of which Jacob Wallenberg left the Board of Directors of Stockholms Enskilda Bank in 1969.
The departure of Jacob Wallenberg from the Board of Directors of Stockholms Enskilda Bank in 1969 provided an opportunity to take a vacant seat to Peter Wallenberg ( Swedish Peter Wallenberg ). In 1971, Marcus Wallenberg began an operation to merge Stockholms Enskilda Bank with its main competitor, Skandinaviska Banken, but shortly after the start of the operation committed suicide. According to experts, Marcus Wallenberg committed suicide amid doubts about his ability to lead the joint banking group. Despite the tragic events that occurred with Markus Wallenberg, the merger of Stockholms Enskilda Bank and Skandinaviska Banken into the Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken group ended in 1972.
Over time, Markus Wallenberg and Peter Wallenberg are beginning to pay more attention to investment companies Investor and Providentia, and investment activity is gradually occupying a dominant position in the activities of the Wallenberg financial group. Under the direct control of Marcus and Peter Wallenberg, an active restructuring of assets under the control of the financial group begins, accompanied by an update of the board of directors and a renewal of the management team of the enterprises.
In connection with the death of Markus Wallenberg in 1982, Peter Wallenberg takes over the reins of the financial group. The change in financial group leader in 1982 marked the centuries-old dominance of the Wallenberg family in Sweden's industrial and banking sectors and outlined new challenges that Peter Wallenberg accepted with dignity. According to available data in 1990, the Wallenberg family directly or indirectly controlled up to thirty percent of Sweden's gross national product. Peter Wallenberg retired in 1997. [6]
In the middle of the 2000s, the fifth generation of Wallenbergs entered the scene, among whom Markus Wallenberg (son of Mark Wallenberg), Peter and Jakob Wallenberg (sons of Peter Wallenberg) began to play a prominent role.
Interesting Facts
Representatives of the Wallenberg family try to stay in the shadow and avoid public discussion of their influence and condition, and the Wallenberg family's motto is the Latin dictum “Esse, non Videri” (“To be, not to seem”). [7] The Wallenberg family business interests include a large number of companies, a significant proportion of which belong to the investment companies of the Wallenberg family Investor AB and Foundation Asset Management.
Wallenberg Family Tree
| Marcus Wallenberg 1744-1799 | Jacob Wallenberg 1746–1778 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marcus Wallenberg 1774-1833 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Katerina Wilhelmina Andersson | Andre Oscar Wallenberg 1816–1886 | Anna von Syudov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Knut Agaton Wallenberg 1853–1938 | Gustaf Wallenberg 1863–1937 | Marcus Wallenberg (Sr.) 1864–1943 | Oscar Wallenberg 1872-1939 | Axel Wallenberg 1874-1963 | Victor Wallenberg 1875–1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Raul Oscar Wallenberg 1888–1912 | Jacob Wallenberg 1892-1980 | Markurs Wallenberg (Jr.) 1899-1982 | Carol Wallenberg 1904–1985 | Gustaf Valley 1905–1966 | Henry Wallenberg 1908–1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Raul Wallenberg 1912 – c. 1947 | Peter Seger Wallenberg 1935– | Mark Wallenberg 1924–1971 | Peter Wallenberg (Sr.) 1926–2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marcus Wallenberg 1956– | Axel Wallenberg 1958–2011 | Jacob Wallenberg 1956– | Peter Wallenberg (Jr.) 1959– | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 A Nordic pyramid . The economist . Date of treatment June 10, 2017.
- ↑ Yad Vashem database . Yad Vashem . - "who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest during World War II ... and put some 15,000 Jews into 32 safe houses." Date of treatment February 12, 2007. Archived on February 7, 2007.
- ↑ The Swedish family calendar 1989 , red. Elisabeth Thorsell , Almqvist & Wiksell Internationell, Stockholm 1989 ISBN 91-22-01318-0 s.360
- ↑ Authors Claim Wallenberg Family Assisted Nazis in Banking Deals . Jewish Telegraphic Agency (November 8, 1989). Date of treatment August 13, 2016.
- ↑ Gowland, Rob. Banks' nazi connections exposed (unopened) // The Guardian (Socialist Party of Australia). - 1996 .-- June 19.
- ↑ based on an article in Reed Business Information's International Management
- ↑ based on an article in the New York times
Literature
- Wallenberg / Roginsky V.V. // The Greater Caucasus - The Grand Canal. - M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia, 2006. - P. 538. - ( Big Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 vols.] / Ch. Ed. Yu. S. Osipov ; 2004—2017, vol. 4). - ISBN 5-85270-333-8 .