Olav Thon

Last updated
Olav Thon
Olav Thon 2013-04-30 001.jpg
Thon in 2013
Born (1923-06-29) 29 June 1923 (age 100)
Ål, Hallingdal, Norway
OccupationReal Estate Developer
EmployerOlav Thon Gruppen
TitleChairman of Olav Thon Gruppen
Spouse
Sissel Berdal Haga
​
(m. 2019)​

Olav Thon (born 29 June 1923) is a Norwegian real estate developer. His Olav Thon Group is Norway's largest private real estate company, with 450 properties, including 60 hotels. [1] [2]

Contents

His authorized biography, Olav Thon: Billionaire in a Parka , was written by Hallgrim Berg, a Norwegian politician and a folk musician; a translated version was published in English in October 2009. [3]

Personal

Thon lives just outside Oslo, in Sollihøgda, Hole municipality. Thon is a Christian and is married but does not have any heirs. [4] [5] He grew up as a "farm boy who only went to the city to sell fox pelts". He enjoys various outdoor activities and is an honorary member of the Norwegian Trekking Association. [1] Thon is "proud of his success, and his large tax bill, which he says he is glad to pay". [1]

Thon was appointed honorary doctorate at Karlstad University in 2013. [6]

Business

Olav Thon bought his first building in 1951 and opened his first restaurant in 1966. His company owns a total of 450 properties in Norway, including shopping malls, office buildings, retail stores, and hotels. His principal holdings are the private companies Stormgård AS and Thongård AS, in addition to a major stake in the publicly traded company Olav Thon Eiendomsselskap ASA. [1]

Besides his hotel and real estate investments, in 1992, Olav Thon has acquired Unger Fabrikker AS. Unger Fabrikker AS is a Fredrikstad based chemical manifacturer with a focus of anionic surfactants. [7] [8]

Trust

In an article in the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv on 10 September 2008, Olav Thon's solicitor, John Christian Elden, announced that Olav Thon intends to give away his entire fortune through the establishment of an independent foundation that focuses on the medical sciences. [9] [1] On 10 December 2013 he announced the decision for the entire 71.9% stake in his real estate company Olav Thon Eiendomsselskap ASA to give for charity trust of his own. [10] Therefore, later, in February 2014, his personal assets estimated around US$1 billion. [11]

Thon has no heirs. [1]

Personal life

Thon was married to Inger-Johanne Thon (1 August 1919 - 26 April 2018) [12] until her death in 2018. Although he lived with his partner, Sissel Bergal Haga, for over 30 years, he did not divorce his wife, as she was suffering from Alzheimers. [13]

Thon married his long-time partner, Sissel Berdal Haga on 21 June 2019. [14]

He turned 100 on 29 June 2023. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ål</span> Municipality in Buskerud, Norway

Ål is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål. The parish of Aal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. The area of Hol was separated from the municipality of Aal in 1877 to become a separate municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sissel Kyrkjebø</span> Norwegian singer

Sissel Kyrkjebø, also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Berg Hestad</span> Norwegian footballer and manager (born 1975)

Daniel Berg Hestad is a Norwegian football manager and a former player, who played as a central midfielder, most notably for Molde. He is the manager of Molde 2 and the Under-19 squad of Molde. With 666 official appearances, he is the player with most official matches for Molde. He currently holds the record for most matches in Eliteserien with 473. He is three time Norwegian league champion, and four times Norwegian Cup champion with Molde, being the joint most decorated player of the club with 7 trophies along with Etzaz Hussain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petter Stordalen</span> Norwegian billionaire businessman

Petter Anker Stordalen Bjorvand is a Norwegian businessman. With an estimated net worth of $1 billion as of 2023, he is the owner of the Strawberry Group, a conglomerate of 10 companies in hotels, shopping centers, real estate, finance, and art. Through Strawberry Hospitality Group, he owns Nordic Choice Hotels, consisting of over 200 hotels and 17,000 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Wiik</span> Norwegian actor and entrepreneur (born 1981)

Gunnar Ryan Wiik is a Norwegian actor and entrepreneur. Wiik resides in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thon Hotels</span> Norwegian-based hotel chain

Thon Hotels is a Norwegian-based hotel chain. It is currently the 3rd largest hotel chain in Norway with 93 hotels in Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Danmark and the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georg Apenes</span> Norwegian politician and jurist

Georg Apenes was a Norwegian politician and jurist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eyvind Hellstrøm</span> Norwegian chef

Eyvind Hellstrøm is a Norwegian chef and formerly the part owner of Bagatelle restaurant, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in the city of Oslo. He was the president of the 2008 Bocuse d'Or Europe, is frequently a judge at the Bocuse d'Or world finals, and was himself a competition candidate in 1989, placing fifth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brage Prize</span>

The Brage Prize is a Norwegian literature prize that is awarded annually by the Norwegian Book Prize foundation. The prize recognizes recently published Norwegian literature.

Hallgrim Berg is a Norwegian author, traditional folk musician, and former politician for the Conservative Party. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament from 1982 to 1997, representing Buskerud. He has released several books and been involved in several musical albums, and held numerous public positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Andreas Limi</span> Norwegian businessperson and politician

Hans Andreas Limi is a Norwegian businessperson and politician for the Progress Party. He is currently an MP for the Akershus constituency since 2013 and the party's first deputy leader since 2023. He previously served as the party's parliamentary leader from 2017 to 2020.

Cecilie Alexandra Pontine Paus is a London-based Norwegian designer and shipping heiress. A member of the billionaire Wilhelmsen family on her mother's side, she is one of the owners of Wilh. Wilhelmsen, one of the world's largest shipping companies. As a designer she is known for designing handbags sold under her label House of Paus, and was described by Vogue in the early 2000s as the "hottest new name in handbags". She is the founder of the beauty brand Dr.Lipp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefan Heggelund</span> Norwegian politician

Stefan Magnus Brittmark Heggelund is a Norwegian communication consultant and politician for the Conservative Party. He served as a member of parliament for Oslo from 2013 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olav Thon Eiendomsselskap</span>

Olav Thon Eiendomsselskap is a Norwegian real estate company that owns Shopping malls and other commercial properties in Norway and Sweden. The company is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunnar Stavrum</span> Norwegian newspaper editor and author (born 1961)

Gunnar Stavrum is a Norwegian newspaper editor and author. Since 2003 he has been chief editor of the online newspaper Nettavisen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knut Borge</span> Norwegian journalist and entertainer (1949-2017)

Knut Conrad Borge was a Norwegian journalist and entertainer.

Arnfinn Hofstad is a Norwegian businessperson.

Caroline Victoria Olympia Paus, known as just Olympia Paus, is a Norwegian shipping magnate and equestrienne, who lives in the United Kingdom. She is married to Alexander Nix, former CEO of Cambridge Analytica.

Marit Slagsvold is a Norwegian priest in the Church of Norway, sociologist, author and researcher. She is the wife of Jonas Gahr Støre, the Prime Minister of Norway.

Events in the year 2023 in Norway.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "#198 Olav Thon". The World's Billionnaires. Forbes. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Tobacco heir emerges as Norway’s wealthiest", Aftenposten , October 19, 2006.
  3. ↑ Berg, Hallgrim (2009). Olav Thon - Billionaire in a Parka. ISBN   978-0942323436.
  4. ↑ DagenMagazinet - Olav Thon om kristen arbeidsetikk
  5. ↑ "Norge IDAG - Thon til Oslo Symposium". Archived from the original on 2015-04-05. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  6. ↑ Radio, Sveriges. "Nye hedersdoktorn Olav Thon slår tillbaka mot kritiken - P4 Värmland" . Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  7. ↑ https://unger.no/about-unger/history/
  8. ↑ https://olavthon.no/om-Olav-Thon-Gruppen/Virksomheter/Ovrige-Virksomheter/
  9. ↑ Thon set to give away his fortune, The Norway Mail , September 10, 2008.
  10. ↑ "Gir alt til stiftelse" (in Norwegian). nenyheter. 2013-12-10.
  11. ↑ "Bill Gates Tops Forbes List of Billionaires for Seventh Year". Bloomberg. February 26, 2004.
  12. ↑ https://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/innenriks/olav-thons-kone-inger-johanne-thon-er-dod/s/12-95-3423482056
  13. ↑ "Olav Thon: Derfor har han hatt både kone og kjæreste i over tretti år" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  14. ↑ "Mann og kone: Olav Thon (95) har sagt ja til Sissel Berdal Haga (78)" (in Norwegian). E24. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  15. ↑ "Olav Thon fyller 100 år: – Uten ham hadde vi ikke vært noen ting". nrk.no (in Norwegian). 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.