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Björgólfur Guðmundsson

March 13, 2023

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Björgólfur.

Björgólfur Guðmundsson (born 2 January 1941) is an Icelandic businessman and former chairman and owner of West Ham United. Björgólfur was Iceland's second wealthiest businessman worth more than a billion dollars — his son, Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson being the first. He was at one time the majority owner and chairman of the now nationalised Icelandic bank Landsbanki, the second largest company in Iceland. He was ranked by Forbes magazine in March 2008 as the 1014th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $1.1 billion.[1] In December of the same year Forbes revalued his net worth to $0,[2] and on 31 July 2009 he was declared bankrupt by the Icelandic courts with debts of almost £500 million (96 billion ISK).[3]

Björgólfur Guðmundsson
Personal details
Born (1941-01-02) 2 January 1941 (age 82)
Reykjavík, Iceland
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1963; died 2020)​
ChildrenBjörgólfur Thor Björgólfsson

Björgólfur was described in an article written by Jamie Jackson of The Guardian as "a former footballer, furniture packer and law student, a recovering alcoholic of 30 years and an old-fashioned philanthropist".[4] In the 1990s he was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, for bookkeeping offences, having faced around 450 charges.[5] He went to Russia, remade his fortune and returned to Iceland, where he also had interests in shipping, publishing, food, communications and property.[6]

Early life and marriage

Born in Reykjavík, Iceland, Björgólfur's parents were Guðmundur Pétur Ólafsson (1911–79) and Kristín Davíðsdóttir.[7][8] Björgólfur has an elder brother, Davíð, and three sisters.[9][10] By the account of Björgólfur's son, he was from a working-class background, and his father Guðmundur was affected by a stroke around 1945.[10] The young Björgólfur graduated from the Commercial College of Iceland in 1962,[11] was an organiser of the Independence Party youth wing and is described by Roger Boyes as 'a promising young man, handsome, clean-cut, with reasonable English and a smooth, reassuring manner.'.[12]

Accounts vary, but it has been claimed that in 1958 Björgólfur was asked by the family of Thor Philip Axel Jensen, Iceland's foremost businessman of the time, to accompany Hallgrímur Fr. Hallgrímsson to the US to bring back Hallgrímur's daughter Margrét Þóra Hallgrímsson, who had left her first marriage to Haukur Clausen to marry the American Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell.[13] Björgólfur's son suggests, however, that the two met only after Þóra's return to Iceland following her split with Rockwell.[14] Either way, Björgólfur married Þóra in 1963 and adopted her children by Clausen (Örn Friðrik, b. 1951) and Rockwell (Hallgrímur, b. 1954; Margrét, 1955–89; and Evelyn Bentína).[15] The couple subsequently had a child of their own, Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson (b. 1967).[13]

From 1962 to 1977, Björgólfur was the founder and director of Dósagerðin hf.; from 1977 to 1986 he was the director of Hafskip, with further responsibilities for its various daughter companies in the Europe and the USA.[11] During much of this period, Björgólfur was, in the estimation of his son Björgólfur Thor, 'a highly functional alcoholic', but went into rehab in Hazelden, Minnesota, in 1978 and has not drank since.[16]

Hafskip affair

The shipping business Hafskip was the main competitor to Iceland's established shipping operator Eimskip (co-founded by the father of Björgólfur's wife). In Roger Boyes's account,

initially there was more than enough business for both shipping companies, transporting supplies to the U.S. base. But when an American company started to compete on the route, Hafskip floundered. Björgólfur borrowed to expand, but in the early 1980s—without a bank in his pocket or sophisticated financial instruments available—he struggled to keep the cash flow going. According to Illugi Jökulsson, who has written a book about the Hafskip affair, Björgólfur was suddenly undermined when his bank, Útvegsbankinn, declared his company in default on its loans.[17]

Björgólfur was prosecuted for bookkeeping irregularities, receiving a twelve-month suspended jail sentence, but in Illugi Jökulsson's interpretation, this

was a crude act to dispose of an Eimskip rival (which later took on Hafskip’s ships). More, it was an attempt by the Progressive Party to profit from the downfall of a man who was so clearly aligned with the Independence Party'.[18]

The affair had a considerable effect on Björgólfur and his son, and both at times portrayed their subsequent business activities as a way to take revenge on the people they saw as their persecutors and to regain their reputations.[19] One of the avenues through which Björgólfur worked to restore his reputation in the years following the Hafskip affair was by starting a successful alcoholics' rehabilitation centre in Reykjavík.[20][21]

From 1986 to 1991, Björgólfur was the director and owner of Icestar Ltd. in Copenhagen and a consultant on the shipping business for AMA Agencies in London.

Beverage businessman in Saint Petersburg

In 1991, in the wake of the Hafskip affair, Björgólfur began running the brewery and soft drinks unit of Pharmaco, a pharmaceuticals group, in 1991.

In the early 1990s Pharmaco was required to sell off its unneeded bottling machines, and Björgólfur took the opportunity, through a partner, Ingimar Haukur Ingimarsson, who was already based in St Petersburg, to co-found Bravo Brewery with Magnús Þorsteinsson (chairman of Avion Group) and Björgólfur's own son Björgólfur Thor. Notwithstanding legal wrangles with Ingimar Haukur, Bravo Brewery became a success.[22] Björgólfur Guðmundsson and his son later sold the venture to Heineken for $400 million which they invested both in Iceland and abroad.

Danish journalists noted that in St. Petersburg, the Committee on External Economic Relations in Saint Petersburg's Mayor's office was responsible for foreigners in Saint Petersburg. The committee's chairman was Vladimir Putin.[23]

The Icelandic businessmen, together with Russian partners, founded the bottling company Baltic Bottling Plant, which was sold to Pepsi. They moved to brewing and founded the brewing company Bravo International OOO in August 1996 which became Bravo International JSC in December 1997.[23][24] Bravo Brewery became a success with the premium beer Botchkarov.

In 2005 an article in The Guardian wondered where the Icelandic money comes from and noted that in the 1990s the three Icelandic businessmen "were not only ploughing money into the country but doing it in the city regarded as the Russian mafia capital. That investment was being made in the drinks sector, seen by the mafia as the industry of choice."[25] Competitors in the St. Petersburg brewing market faced problems. Ilya Weismann, deputy director of competing beverage company Baltic, was assassinated on 10 January 2000. Soon afterwards Baltic director general Aslanbek Chochiev was also assassinated. One competing St Petersburg brewery burned to the ground.[23][25]

The company became the fastest growing brewery in Russia. Heineken bought the extraordinarily successful brewery for $400m in 2002[23][26] and Björgólfur returned to Iceland.[27]

The boom years: chairman of Landsbanki

Main article: Landsbanki

Late in 2002, Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson and Björgólfur Guðmundsson's holding company Samson ehf. gained 45% controlling share of Landsbanki, Iceland's second largest bank, for about 12.3 billion ISK in a controversial privatization.[28][29] The board was announced in February 2003, with the chairman being Björgólfur Guðmundsson.[30]

Björgólfur became famous and very popular in Iceland during this time as the country's leading philanthropist, both through the direct contributions of himself and his wife Þóra, and through contributions made by Landsbanki (where he started a special service at Landsbanki with the tag "Give help to a good cause"): 'dressed in his trademark pin-striped suits he came to be Iceland's greatest philanthropist, loved by the public, and was for a while perhaps more influential in the island's cultural life than even the Minister of Culture, who in effect was downgraded to second fiddle in many opening ceremonies'.[31] Particularly major funding went to the National Theatre of Iceland for the building of a new stage; the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, which received ISK 25m for touring; the Listahátíð í Reykjavík; the Icelandic Opera for a staging of Tosca; the Reykjavík Menningarnótt; the Football Association of Iceland; Grafarvogskirkja; the Icelandic Literary Society; the University of Iceland; RÚV for domestic programming; the theatre group Vesturport; the University of Akureyri; 160 artists in Klink og Bank; and the artist Ólafur Elíasson.[32] Particularly since the 2008 economic crash, however, it has been pointed out that by accident or design this massive patronage of the artistic and intellectual life of Iceland tended to silence critical commentary on the banking boom, helping to cause the collapse.[33]

Björgólfur's use of sponsorship of the cultural sector to win public approval of himself and his businesses extended to buying influence in the media. In 2002, Björgólfur took a 68% in Iceland's biggest publisher, Edda.[34] When, in 2005, Guðmund Magnússon published the book Thorsararnir, on the history of the descendants of Thor Jensen.[35] In the first version of the book was a chapter on Þóra's marriage with Rockwell. The book was published by the press Edda, but Björgólfur, who owned the publisher, had the author change the text, and had the whole first print run destroyed.[36] Moreover, he tried to buy the newspaper Dagblaðið-Vísir, which had discussed the matter, in order to close it down.[37] Björgólfur did succeed in buying the country's only broadsheet newspaper, Morgunblaðið, along with the associated internet news portal mbl.is.[38][39]

The banking crisis, and personal bankruptcy

Björgólfur's chairmanship at Landsbanki ended when, on 7 October 2008, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) decided to take over Landsbanki's operations, replacing its board of directors.[40] After the almost total collapse of the Icelandic banking system in 2008, Björgólfur Guðmundsson was pointed out as one of the main players behind the Icelandic economic disaster in all Icelandic media including the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RUV) and all major newspapers. Björgólfur declared his personal bankruptcy in 2009, owing $750m, $500m of which he owed to Landsbanki. This seems to have been the world's biggest recorded personal bankruptcy.[41] In 2010, Time magazine named Björgölfur as one of their hundred most influential people in the world for his role in the Icelandic crash.[42]

Other businesses 2002–2008

 
Björgólfur called 75 organisations to his meeting and gave each one 1 million ISK.

Björgólfur has been a keen football fan for years and led the consortium which bought the English Premier League football club West Ham United. He bought 90% of the club himself and became the club's Honorary Life President in June 2006, alongside Eggert Magnússon who became Chairman. In December 2007, Björgólfur bought out Magnusson's residual 5% stake, and took over the chairman's role.[43] On 8 June 2009, West Ham were taken over by asset management company CB Holding. Chairman Gudmundsson and vice-chairman Asgeir Fridgeirsson resigned from the club's board.[44]

Appearances in popular culture

References

  1. ^ Forbes' Rich List 2008
  2. ^ . Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  3. ^
  4. ^ Jackson, Jamie (2 September 2007). "He's the real thing". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ^ Jackson, Jamie (2 September 2007). "He's the real thing". London: The Observer. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  6. ^ Conn, David (29 November 2006). "The real power behind West Ham". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  7. ^ Indriðason, Valur Grettisson, Friðrik. "Björgólfur Guðmundsson - frá upphafi til enda - Vísir". visir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Ólafur Kr. Guðmundsson". www.mbl.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  9. ^ Ingi Freyr Vilhjálmsson, Hamskiptin: Þegar allt varð falt á Íslandi (Reykjavík: Veröld, 2014), p. 53.
  10. ^ a b Thor Bjorgolfsson and Andrew Cave, Billions to Bust—And Back: How I Made, Lost and Rebuilt a Fortune, and What I Learned on the Way (London: Profile, 2014), p. 20.
  11. ^ a b 'Björgólfur Guðmundsson', Stúdentafagnaður 2012, .
  12. ^ Roger Boyes, Meltdown Iceland: Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island (New York: Bloomsbury, 2009), pp. 63-64, 71. 76.
  13. ^ a b Roger Boyes, Meltdown Iceland: Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island (New York: Bloomsbury, 2009), pp. 63-64; Ingi Freyr Vilhjálmsson, Hamskiptin: Þegar allt varð falt á Íslandi (Reykjavík: Veröld, 2014), p. 55.
  14. ^ Thor Bjorgolfsson and Andrew Cave, Billions to Bust—And Back: How I Made, Lost and Rebuilt a Fortune, and What I Learned on the Way (London: Profile, 2014), p. 19.
  15. ^ "Margrét Þorbjörg Thors". Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  16. ^ Thor Bjorgolfsson and Andrew Cave, Billions to Bust—and Back: How I Made, Lost, and Rebuilt a Fortune, and What I Learned on the Way (London: Profile, 2014), pp. 13-15.
  17. ^ Roger Boyes, Meltdown Iceland: Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island (New York: Bloomsbury, 2009), pp. 64-65.
  18. ^ Roger Boyes, Meltdown Iceland: Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island (New York: Bloomsbury, 2009), p. 65.
  19. ^ Roger Boyes, Meltdown Iceland: Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island (New York: Bloomsbury, 2009), pp. 64-66.
  20. ^ Roger Boyes, Meltdown Iceland: Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island (New York: Bloomsbury, 2009), p. 66.
  21. ^ 'Þeir byggðu Vog og réðu Þórarin' (5 August 15).
  22. ^ Roger Boyes, Meltdown Iceland: Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island (New York: Bloomsbury, 2009), pp. 67-68.
  23. ^ a b c d "Россия желает спасать Исландию из-за давних офшорных связей чиновников и бизнесменов". The New Times. 21 October 2008.. Another copy: . Rususa. 21 October 2008. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.. An automatic translation: . Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  24. ^ Нерсесов, Юрий (23 January 2003). Жертвы иудейской войны. stringer-news.ru website. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  25. ^ a b Griffiths, Ian (16 June 2005). "Next-generation Viking invasion – They've got the cash to buy big UK groups like M&S. But where does it come from?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  26. ^ "Who is Thor Bjorgolfsson, Iceland's lone billionaire?". Invest in Greece. 20 January 2006.
  27. ^ Ingi Freyr Vilhjálmsson, Hamskiptin: Þegar allt varð falt á Íslandi (Reykjavík: Veröld, 2014), p. 54.
  28. ^ Guðmundur Magnússon, Thorsararnir: auður – völd – örlög (Reykjavík: Almenna bókafélagið, 2005), p. 354; Questions over Landsbanki's new shareholder /Euromoney magazine
  29. ^ IcelandReview - Online, Iceland News, Travel, Vacation, Culture, Hotels, Politics, Business
  30. ^ Guðmundur Magnússon, Thorsararnir: auður – völd – örlög (Reykjavík: Almenna bókafélagið, 2005), p. 354
  31. ^ Eiríkur Bergmann, Iceland and the International Financial Crisis: Boom, Bust and Recovery (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), p. 72.
  32. ^ Ingi Freyr Vilhjálmsson, Hamskiptin: Þegar allt varð falt á Íslandi (Reykjavík: Veröld, 2014), pp. 51-67; 261-68 (at p. 59).
  33. ^ Ingi Freyr Vilhjálmsson, Hamskiptin: Þegar allt varð falt á Íslandi (Reykjavík: Veröld, 2014), pp. 67-82, 165-206.
  34. ^ Magnús Þór Snæbjörnsson, 'Björgólfskviða- eða listaverkið að lokinni fjöldaframleiðslu sinni: Smásaga með myndum og neðanmálsgreinum', Kistan (18 October 2008),
  35. ^ Thorsararnir: auður – völd – örlög (Reykjavík: Almenna bókafélagið, 2005).
  36. ^ 'Chairman of Landsbanki burning books?', Iceland Review (5 December 2005, updated 30 January 2014).
  37. ^ Ritskoðari einokar dagblaðamarkað. DV, 1. nóvember 2008.
  38. ^ Eiríkur Bergmann, Iceland and the International Financial Crisis: Boom, Bust and Recovery (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), p. 96.
  39. ^ Alda Guðrún Áskelsdóttir, 'Áhrif eigenda á íslenska fjölmiðla' (unpublished MA thesis, University of Iceland, 2009), pp. 61-62.
  40. ^ "History". Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  41. ^ "Iceland: How Could This Happen?" (PDF). Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  42. ^ Björn Þór Sigbjörnsson, Bergsteinn Sigurðsson, and others, Ísland í aldanna rás, 2001-2010: Saga lands og þjóðar ár frá ári (Reykjavík: JPV, 2012), p. 408.
  43. ^ Magnusson leaves Hammers SkySports – 13 December 2007
  44. ^ West Ham takeover deal completed www.bbc.co.uk
  45. ^ Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands-. "Tímarit.is". timarit.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  46. ^ Illugi Jökulsson. „Rússneska mafían kemur til íslands.“ DV 15. nóvember 2004, p. 25.
  47. ^ Alaric Hall, Útrásarvíkingar! The Literature of the Icelandic Financial Crisis (2008–2014) (Earth, Milky Way: punctum, 2020), p. 206; ISBN 978-1-950192-70-0 doi:10.21983/P3.0272.1.00.

External links

  • Forbes article
  • Landsbanki Islands
  • Guardian article, 16 June 2005
  • Guardian article, 2 September 2007
  • Euromoney, November 2002

March 13, 2023
björgólfur, guðmundsson, this, icelandic, name, last, name, patronymic, family, name, this, person, referred, given, name, björgólfur, born, january, 1941, icelandic, businessman, former, chairman, owner, west, united, björgólfur, iceland, second, wealthiest, . This is an Icelandic name The last name is patronymic not a family name this person is referred to by the given name Bjorgolfur Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson born 2 January 1941 is an Icelandic businessman and former chairman and owner of West Ham United Bjorgolfur was Iceland s second wealthiest businessman worth more than a billion dollars his son Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson being the first He was at one time the majority owner and chairman of the now nationalised Icelandic bank Landsbanki the second largest company in Iceland He was ranked by Forbes magazine in March 2008 as the 1014th richest person in the world with a net worth of 1 1 billion 1 In December of the same year Forbes revalued his net worth to 0 2 and on 31 July 2009 he was declared bankrupt by the Icelandic courts with debts of almost 500 million 96 billion ISK 3 Bjorgolfur GudmundssonPersonal detailsBorn 1941 01 02 2 January 1941 age 82 Reykjavik IcelandSpouseMargret THora Hallgrimsson m 1963 died 2020 wbr ChildrenBjorgolfur Thor BjorgolfssonBjorgolfur was described in an article written by Jamie Jackson of The Guardian as a former footballer furniture packer and law student a recovering alcoholic of 30 years and an old fashioned philanthropist 4 In the 1990s he was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years for bookkeeping offences having faced around 450 charges 5 He went to Russia remade his fortune and returned to Iceland where he also had interests in shipping publishing food communications and property 6 Contents 1 Early life and marriage 2 Hafskip affair 3 Beverage businessman in Saint Petersburg 4 The boom years chairman of Landsbanki 5 The banking crisis and personal bankruptcy 6 Other businesses 2002 2008 7 Appearances in popular culture 8 References 9 External linksEarly life and marriage EditBorn in Reykjavik Iceland Bjorgolfur s parents were Gudmundur Petur olafsson 1911 79 and Kristin Davidsdottir 7 8 Bjorgolfur has an elder brother David and three sisters 9 10 By the account of Bjorgolfur s son he was from a working class background and his father Gudmundur was affected by a stroke around 1945 10 The young Bjorgolfur graduated from the Commercial College of Iceland in 1962 11 was an organiser of the Independence Party youth wing and is described by Roger Boyes as a promising young man handsome clean cut with reasonable English and a smooth reassuring manner 12 Accounts vary but it has been claimed that in 1958 Bjorgolfur was asked by the family of Thor Philip Axel Jensen Iceland s foremost businessman of the time to accompany Hallgrimur Fr Hallgrimsson to the US to bring back Hallgrimur s daughter Margret THora Hallgrimsson who had left her first marriage to Haukur Clausen to marry the American Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell 13 Bjorgolfur s son suggests however that the two met only after THora s return to Iceland following her split with Rockwell 14 Either way Bjorgolfur married THora in 1963 and adopted her children by Clausen Orn Fridrik b 1951 and Rockwell Hallgrimur b 1954 Margret 1955 89 and Evelyn Bentina 15 The couple subsequently had a child of their own Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson b 1967 13 From 1962 to 1977 Bjorgolfur was the founder and director of Dosagerdin hf from 1977 to 1986 he was the director of Hafskip with further responsibilities for its various daughter companies in the Europe and the USA 11 During much of this period Bjorgolfur was in the estimation of his son Bjorgolfur Thor a highly functional alcoholic but went into rehab in Hazelden Minnesota in 1978 and has not drank since 16 Hafskip affair EditThe shipping business Hafskip was the main competitor to Iceland s established shipping operator Eimskip co founded by the father of Bjorgolfur s wife In Roger Boyes s account initially there was more than enough business for both shipping companies transporting supplies to the U S base But when an American company started to compete on the route Hafskip floundered Bjorgolfur borrowed to expand but in the early 1980s without a bank in his pocket or sophisticated financial instruments available he struggled to keep the cash flow going According to Illugi Jokulsson who has written a book about the Hafskip affair Bjorgolfur was suddenly undermined when his bank Utvegsbankinn declared his company in default on its loans 17 dd Bjorgolfur was prosecuted for bookkeeping irregularities receiving a twelve month suspended jail sentence but in Illugi Jokulsson s interpretation this was a crude act to dispose of an Eimskip rival which later took on Hafskip s ships More it was an attempt by the Progressive Party to profit from the downfall of a man who was so clearly aligned with the Independence Party 18 dd The affair had a considerable effect on Bjorgolfur and his son and both at times portrayed their subsequent business activities as a way to take revenge on the people they saw as their persecutors and to regain their reputations 19 One of the avenues through which Bjorgolfur worked to restore his reputation in the years following the Hafskip affair was by starting a successful alcoholics rehabilitation centre in Reykjavik 20 21 From 1986 to 1991 Bjorgolfur was the director and owner of Icestar Ltd in Copenhagen and a consultant on the shipping business for AMA Agencies in London Beverage businessman in Saint Petersburg EditIn 1991 in the wake of the Hafskip affair Bjorgolfur began running the brewery and soft drinks unit of Pharmaco a pharmaceuticals group in 1991 In the early 1990s Pharmaco was required to sell off its unneeded bottling machines and Bjorgolfur took the opportunity through a partner Ingimar Haukur Ingimarsson who was already based in St Petersburg to co found Bravo Brewery with Magnus THorsteinsson chairman of Avion Group and Bjorgolfur s own son Bjorgolfur Thor Notwithstanding legal wrangles with Ingimar Haukur Bravo Brewery became a success 22 Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson and his son later sold the venture to Heineken for 400 million which they invested both in Iceland and abroad Danish journalists noted that in St Petersburg the Committee on External Economic Relations in Saint Petersburg s Mayor s office was responsible for foreigners in Saint Petersburg The committee s chairman was Vladimir Putin 23 The Icelandic businessmen together with Russian partners founded the bottling company Baltic Bottling Plant which was sold to Pepsi They moved to brewing and founded the brewing company Bravo International OOO in August 1996 which became Bravo International JSC in December 1997 23 24 Bravo Brewery became a success with the premium beer Botchkarov In 2005 an article in The Guardian wondered where the Icelandic money comes from and noted that in the 1990s the three Icelandic businessmen were not only ploughing money into the country but doing it in the city regarded as the Russian mafia capital That investment was being made in the drinks sector seen by the mafia as the industry of choice 25 Competitors in the St Petersburg brewing market faced problems Ilya Weismann deputy director of competing beverage company Baltic was assassinated on 10 January 2000 Soon afterwards Baltic director general Aslanbek Chochiev was also assassinated One competing St Petersburg brewery burned to the ground 23 25 The company became the fastest growing brewery in Russia Heineken bought the extraordinarily successful brewery for 400m in 2002 23 26 and Bjorgolfur returned to Iceland 27 The boom years chairman of Landsbanki EditMain article Landsbanki Late in 2002 Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson and Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson s holding company Samson ehf gained 45 controlling share of Landsbanki Iceland s second largest bank for about 12 3 billion ISK in a controversial privatization 28 29 The board was announced in February 2003 with the chairman being Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson 30 Bjorgolfur became famous and very popular in Iceland during this time as the country s leading philanthropist both through the direct contributions of himself and his wife THora and through contributions made by Landsbanki where he started a special service at Landsbanki with the tag Give help to a good cause dressed in his trademark pin striped suits he came to be Iceland s greatest philanthropist loved by the public and was for a while perhaps more influential in the island s cultural life than even the Minister of Culture who in effect was downgraded to second fiddle in many opening ceremonies 31 Particularly major funding went to the National Theatre of Iceland for the building of a new stage the Iceland Symphony Orchestra which received ISK 25m for touring the Listahatid i Reykjavik the Icelandic Opera for a staging of Tosca the Reykjavik Menningarnott the Football Association of Iceland Grafarvogskirkja the Icelandic Literary Society the University of Iceland RUV for domestic programming the theatre group Vesturport the University of Akureyri 160 artists in Klink og Bank and the artist olafur Eliasson 32 Particularly since the 2008 economic crash however it has been pointed out that by accident or design this massive patronage of the artistic and intellectual life of Iceland tended to silence critical commentary on the banking boom helping to cause the collapse 33 Bjorgolfur s use of sponsorship of the cultural sector to win public approval of himself and his businesses extended to buying influence in the media In 2002 Bjorgolfur took a 68 in Iceland s biggest publisher Edda 34 When in 2005 Gudmund Magnusson published the book Thorsararnir on the history of the descendants of Thor Jensen 35 In the first version of the book was a chapter on THora s marriage with Rockwell The book was published by the press Edda but Bjorgolfur who owned the publisher had the author change the text and had the whole first print run destroyed 36 Moreover he tried to buy the newspaper Dagbladid Visir which had discussed the matter in order to close it down 37 Bjorgolfur did succeed in buying the country s only broadsheet newspaper Morgunbladid along with the associated internet news portal mbl is 38 39 The banking crisis and personal bankruptcy EditBjorgolfur s chairmanship at Landsbanki ended when on 7 October 2008 the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority FME decided to take over Landsbanki s operations replacing its board of directors 40 After the almost total collapse of the Icelandic banking system in 2008 Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson was pointed out as one of the main players behind the Icelandic economic disaster in all Icelandic media including the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service RUV and all major newspapers Bjorgolfur declared his personal bankruptcy in 2009 owing 750m 500m of which he owed to Landsbanki This seems to have been the world s biggest recorded personal bankruptcy 41 In 2010 Time magazine named Bjorgolfur as one of their hundred most influential people in the world for his role in the Icelandic crash 42 Other businesses 2002 2008 Edit Bjorgolfur called 75 organisations to his meeting and gave each one 1 million ISK Bjorgolfur has been a keen football fan for years and led the consortium which bought the English Premier League football club West Ham United He bought 90 of the club himself and became the club s Honorary Life President in June 2006 alongside Eggert Magnusson who became Chairman In December 2007 Bjorgolfur bought out Magnusson s residual 5 stake and took over the chairman s role 43 On 8 June 2009 West Ham were taken over by asset management company CB Holding Chairman Gudmundsson and vice chairman Asgeir Fridgeirsson resigned from the club s board 44 Appearances in popular culture EditBjorgolfur Gudmundsson is the model for the character Haraldur Ruriksson in THrainn Bertelsson s 2004 Roman a clef Daudans ovissi timi 45 46 Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is the inspiration for one of the principal characters of Bjarni Hardarson s satirical novel about the 2008 2012 Icelandic financial crisis Sigurdar saga fots Islensk riddarasaga where his counterpart is Bjarnhedinn kaupahedinn Jonsson 47 References Edit Forbes Rich List 2008 Billionaire Blowups of 2008 Archived from the original on 22 May 2011 Retrieved 15 January 2017 Icelandic bank chief in 500m of hot water Jackson Jamie 2 September 2007 He s the real thing The Guardian London Retrieved 26 April 2010 Jackson Jamie 2 September 2007 He s the real thing London The Observer Retrieved 12 September 2008 Conn David 29 November 2006 The real power behind West Ham The Guardian London Retrieved 12 September 2008 Indridason Valur Grettisson Fridrik Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson fra upphafi til enda Visir visir is in Icelandic Retrieved 1 June 2022 olafur Kr Gudmundsson www mbl is in Icelandic Retrieved 1 June 2022 Ingi Freyr Vilhjalmsson Hamskiptin THegar allt vard falt a Islandi Reykjavik Verold 2014 p 53 a b Thor Bjorgolfsson and Andrew Cave Billions to Bust And Back How I Made Lost and Rebuilt a Fortune and What I Learned on the Way London Profile 2014 p 20 a b Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson Studentafagnadur 2012 1 Roger Boyes Meltdown Iceland Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island New York Bloomsbury 2009 pp 63 64 71 76 a b Roger Boyes Meltdown Iceland Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island New York Bloomsbury 2009 pp 63 64 Ingi Freyr Vilhjalmsson Hamskiptin THegar allt vard falt a Islandi Reykjavik Verold 2014 p 55 Thor Bjorgolfsson and Andrew Cave Billions to Bust And Back How I Made Lost and Rebuilt a Fortune and What I Learned on the Way London Profile 2014 p 19 Margret THorbjorg Thors Retrieved 1 June 2022 Thor Bjorgolfsson and Andrew Cave Billions to Bust and Back How I Made Lost and Rebuilt a Fortune and What I Learned on the Way London Profile 2014 pp 13 15 Roger Boyes Meltdown Iceland Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island New York Bloomsbury 2009 pp 64 65 Roger Boyes Meltdown Iceland Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island New York Bloomsbury 2009 p 65 Roger Boyes Meltdown Iceland Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island New York Bloomsbury 2009 pp 64 66 Roger Boyes Meltdown Iceland Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island New York Bloomsbury 2009 p 66 THeir byggdu Vog og redu THorarin 5 August 15 Roger Boyes Meltdown Iceland Lessons on the World Financial Crisis from a Small Bankrupt Island New York Bloomsbury 2009 pp 67 68 a b c d Rossiya zhelaet spasat Islandiyu iz za davnih ofshornyh svyazej chinovnikov i biznesmenov The New Times 21 October 2008 Another copy Zachem Rossiya spasaet Islandiyu Rususa 21 October 2008 Archived from the original on 15 July 2011 An automatic translation Discussion of the relationship between Iceland and Russia from the Russian newspaper Archived from the original on 23 October 2008 Retrieved 6 April 2010 Nersesov Yurij 23 January 2003 Zhertvy iudejskoj vojny stringer news ru website Retrieved 3 June 2021 a b Griffiths Ian 16 June 2005 Next generation Viking invasion They ve got the cash to buy big UK groups like M amp S But where does it come from The Guardian London Retrieved 26 April 2010 Who is Thor Bjorgolfsson Iceland s lone billionaire Invest in Greece 20 January 2006 Ingi Freyr Vilhjalmsson Hamskiptin THegar allt vard falt a Islandi Reykjavik Verold 2014 p 54 Gudmundur Magnusson Thorsararnir audur vold orlog Reykjavik Almenna bokafelagid 2005 p 354 Questions over Landsbanki s new shareholder Euromoney magazine IcelandReview Online Iceland News Travel Vacation Culture Hotels Politics Business Gudmundur Magnusson Thorsararnir audur vold orlog Reykjavik Almenna bokafelagid 2005 p 354 Eirikur Bergmann Iceland and the International Financial Crisis Boom Bust and Recovery Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan 2014 p 72 Ingi Freyr Vilhjalmsson Hamskiptin THegar allt vard falt a Islandi Reykjavik Verold 2014 pp 51 67 261 68 at p 59 Ingi Freyr Vilhjalmsson Hamskiptin THegar allt vard falt a Islandi Reykjavik Verold 2014 pp 67 82 165 206 Magnus THor Snaebjornsson Bjorgolfskvida eda listaverkid ad lokinni fjoldaframleidslu sinni Smasaga med myndum og nedanmalsgreinum Kistan 18 October 2008 amp tId 2 amp fre id 78217 amp meira 1 Thorsararnir audur vold orlog Reykjavik Almenna bokafelagid 2005 Chairman of Landsbanki burning books Iceland Review 5 December 2005 updated 30 January 2014 Ritskodari einokar dagbladamarkad DV 1 november 2008 Eirikur Bergmann Iceland and the International Financial Crisis Boom Bust and Recovery Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan 2014 p 96 Alda Gudrun Askelsdottir Ahrif eigenda a islenska fjolmidla unpublished MA thesis University of Iceland 2009 pp 61 62 History Retrieved 1 June 2022 Iceland How Could This Happen PDF Retrieved 2 June 2022 Bjorn THor Sigbjornsson Bergsteinn Sigurdsson and others Island i aldanna ras 2001 2010 Saga lands og thjodar ar fra ari Reykjavik JPV 2012 p 408 Magnusson leaves Hammers SkySports 13 December 2007 West Ham takeover deal completed www bbc co uk Haskolabokasafn Landsbokasafn Islands Timarit is timarit is in Icelandic Retrieved 2 June 2022 Illugi Jokulsson Russneska mafian kemur til islands DV 15 november 2004 p 25 Alaric Hall Utrasarvikingar The Literature of the Icelandic Financial Crisis 2008 2014 Earth Milky Way punctum 2020 p 206 ISBN 978 1 950192 70 0 doi 10 21983 P3 0272 1 00 External links EditForbes article Landsbanki Islands Guardian article 16 June 2005 Guardian article 2 September 2007 Euromoney November 2002 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson amp oldid 1137775965, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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