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Hans Rausing

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Sir Hans Rausing

HANS RAUSING.jpg
25 March 1926 (age 92)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Nationality Swedish
Alma mater Lund University
Occupation Businessman
Known for Tetra Pak
Net worth Decrease US$12.5 billion (June 2015)[1]
Spouse(s) Märit Rausing
Children Lisbet, Sigrid, and Hans Kristian Rausing
Parent(s) Ruben Rausing

Sir Hans Rausing, KBE[1] (born 25 March 1926) is a Swedish businessman based in the United Kingdom. He made his fortune from his co-inheritance of Tetra Pak, a company founded by his father Ruben Rausing and currently the largest food packaging company in the world.[2][3] In the Forbes world fortune ranking, Rausing was placed at number 83 with an estimated fortune of $US10 billion in 2011. According to Forbes, he was the second richest Swedish billionaire in 2013. As of July 2016, Forbes reported his net worth as $12.5 billion.[1] As of 17 May 2013, Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated Rausing’s net worth to be $13.3 billion.[4]

Early life[edit]

Rausing was born in Gothenburg in 1926 as the second son to industrialist Ruben Rausing and his wife Elisabeth (née Varenius). Rausing had two brothers, Gad and Sven.

Career[edit]

Rausing studied Economics, Statistics and Russian at Lund University, graduating in 1948.[5] In 1954 Rausing was appointed Managing Director of Tetra Pak and his brother Gad Deputy Managing Director.[6] Rausing became Chairman of the Tetra Pak board in 1985.[6] He left the company in 1993 and sold his 50% share of the company to Gad in 1995.[7]

Tetra Pak’s success in the 1970s and 1980s has been credited to the leadership of Hans and Gad Rausing, who turned the six-person family business into a multi-national company.[7] Over the course of his career, Rausing became a specialist in Russian affairs and has made many investments in Russia and Ukraine. He was responsible for the Tetra Pak’s Russian market, and negotiated the first Tetra Pak machine export to the Soviet Union in 1959, eventually making Tetra Pak the largest foreign employer in Russia.[8]

Patronage[edit]

Hans Rausing and his wife Märit have donated large sums to charities and research in the UK and Sweden, among others to large medical research projects at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University.[9][10] Through the Märit and Hans Rausing Fund, they support local community projects in their home county of Sussex.[11]

Through her fund Arcadia, Rausing’s daughter Lisbet is financing the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, the Hans Rausing Scholarship in the History of Science at King’s College London, and the Hans Rausing Chair in the History of Science at Uppsala University, which is also hosting an annual Hans Rausing Lecture in the History of Science.[12][13][14] The University of Cambridge Department of History and Philosophy of Science hosts an Annual Hans Rausing Lecture.[15]

Honors[edit]

Hans Rausing has been appointed Doctor Honoris Causa in Medicine and Economics at Lund University. He is a visiting professor at Mälardalens Högskola, Sweden, and honorary professor at the University of Dubna, Russia.[16] He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2006.[citation needed]. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge, and in 2011 he was awarded the title Honorary Freeman and Liveryman at The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, London.

Personal life[edit]

Hans Rausing and his wife Märit Rausing have two daughters, Lisbet and Sigrid, and one son, Hans Kristian Rausing.

Rausing has been a resident of the UK since 1982.[17] He lives in Wadhurst, East Sussex.[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b c The World’s Billionaires — #73 Hans Rausing, Forbes.
  2. Jump up^ Yang Ning, “Creating a Benchmark for Recycling Rubbish”, China Daily, 20 June 2011, retrieved 7 November 2011.
  3. Jump up^ “Tetra Pak launches next generation cheese production unit” Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine., Packaging Europe News, 11 November 2011, retrieved 11 November 2011.
  4. Jump up^ Forbes Billionaires Sweden 2013.
  5. Jump up^ Leander, Lars, Tetra Pak. A Vision Becomes Reality. A company history with a difference, Lund: Tetra Pak International, 1996 (ISBN 91-630-4789-6), p. 33.
  6. ^ Jump up to:a b Leander (1996), p. 29.
  7. ^ Jump up to:a b Frederick C. Ingram, “Tetra Pak International SA”, International Directory of Company Histories, 2003. Encyclopedia.com, retrieved 22 July 2016.
  8. Jump up^ Hans Rausing European Business Forum, retrieved 4 November 2011.
  9. Jump up^ Hans and Märit Rausing Archived 31 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine., Karolinska Institutet, retrieved 4 November 2011.
  10. Jump up^ Hans Rausing Medicine Hedersdoktor Archived 31 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine., Lund University, retrieved 4 November 2011.
  11. Jump up^ Professor and Mrs Hans Rausing Archived 6 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine., Sussex Community Foundation, retrieved 4 November 2011.
  12. Jump up^ The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, retrieved 7 November 2011.
  13. Jump up^ The Hans Rausing Scholarship in History of Science, Imperial College, retrieved 7 November 2011.
  14. Jump up^ The Hans Rausing Lectures, Uppsala University, retrieved 7 November 2011.
  15. Jump up^ Annual Hans Rausing Lecture Archived 29 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine., Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge.
  16. Jump up^ Hans Rausing European Business Forum, retrieved 4 November 2011
  17. Jump up^ “Rausing family values: the dark side of a dynasty”, The Independent, 11 April 2008, retrieved 10 November 2011.
  18. Jump up^ Nick Davies, “Playing the System”, The Guardian, 11 April 2002, retrieved 10 November 2011.

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