Ola Rollén

Ola Rollén is a Swedish entrepreneur and businessman. He retired as CEO of Hexagon AB, a global technology firm on December 31, 2022.

Ola Rollén
Born	1965 (age 58–59) Stockholm, Sweden
Education	Stockholm University

Early life and education

Rollén was born in Stockholm in 1965.^[1] He earned an undergraduate degree in finance and economics from Stockholm University^[2] in 1989.^[3]

Career

After graduation, Rollén began his  career at Stora AB in 1989 and later joined AB Kanthal in 1990.

In 1996, Ola Rollén became president of Kanthal.^[4] Two years later he changed jobs and became vice president at Avesta Sheffield. In 1999, he became CEO of Sandvik Stål (now Sandvik Materials Technology) in Sandviken.

The following year, Rollén was recruited by Melker Schörling to be CEO of Hexagon, which was then a conglomerate with limited growth prospects.^[5] Under Rollén's leadership, Hexagon expanded internationally through the acquisition of Brown & Sharpe,^[5] Leica Geosystems,^[6] Intergraph,^[7] and MSC Software^[8] to become a leader in advanced measurement technology. Hexagon has acquired more than 200 companies during Rollén's years as CEO, while balancing the company's portfolio with hardware and software products.^[9]

Hexagon also managed to create a successful Rubber compounding business Hexpol that was distributed to Hexagons shareholders in 2008 via an IPO on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.^[10]

In 2015, Rollén sold half of his shares in Hexagon to form the investment company Greenbridge Partners,^[11] which as of October 2015 owned 20% of Norwegian Next Biometrics.^[12] Melker Schörling,^[13] then chairman of Hexagon's Board of Directors, supported and invested in this new venture.^[14]

He has been named to the Harvard Business Review's “Best-Performing CEOs” list several times.^[15]

Accusations of insider trading

In 2016, Rollén was accused of insider trading in Norway for buying shares in Next Biometrics in October 2015^[16] on behalf of Greenbridge Partners, a transaction which did not involve Hexagon. He was prosecuted by the Norwegian economic crime authority (Økokrim) and acquitted by The Oslo City Court in a unanimous verdict announced 10 January 2018.^[17] Following Økokrim's appeal of the acquittal, Rollén was acquitted for a second time, this time by the Borgarting Court of Appeal (Borgarting lagmannsrett), rejecting all charges of insider trading. The second acquittal verdict was announced 26 June 2019.^[18] The prosecutor in the case stated that they will not challenge the verdict, making the acquittal final.

References

1. "Hexagon 2011 Annual Report" (PDF).
2. "HXGBY Company Profile & Executives - Hexagon AB ADR - Wall Street Journal". www.wsj.com. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
3. "First person: Strumming a geospatial tune!". Geospatial World. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
4. "Ola Rollen, Hexagon AB: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
5. Hellstrom, Niklas Pollard, Johannes (27 March 2013). "From tuna to tech, Hexagon breaks Swedish mould". Reuters. Retrieved 9 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. "Hexagon raises Leica Geosystems bid (Published 2005)". The New York Times. 16 August 2005. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
7. "Sweden's Hexagon buys Intergraph for $2.1 bln". Reuters. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
8. "Hexagon adds MSC to its stable, for $834 million". Schnitger Corporation. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
9. "Hexagon: En stark vinsttillväxt väntas | Placera". www.avanza.se. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
10. "Nytt börsbolag för optimisten | Placera". www.avanza.se. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
11. "Lojalitetskonflikt när vd investerar vid sidan om". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 3 March 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
12. . 18 February 2017. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
13. "Melker Schorling, Sweden's quiet tycoon with the Midas touch". Fortune. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
14. Shanley, Johannes Hellstrom, Mia (7 November 2016). "Hexagon CEO says conscience clear over Norwegian insider trading probe". Reuters. Retrieved 9 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
15. Staff, Harvard Business Review (1 November 2018). "The Best-Performing CEOs in the World 2018". Harvard Business Review. No. November–December 2018. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 9 October 2020. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
16. "Next Biometrics raises cash from veteran Swedish investors". Business Insider. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
17. "Från hyllad vd till brottsmisstänkt". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 26 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
18. Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Gwladys (26 June 2019). "Hexagon CEO Rollen found not guilty of insider trading in appeals case". Reuters. Retrieved 9 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)