Pontine Paus

Last updated

Cecilie Alexandra Pontine Paus
Born15 June 1973
Athens, Greece
NationalityNorwegian
OccupationDesigner and businesswoman
Partner Harry Primrose, Lord Dalmeny

Cecilie Alexandra Pontine Paus (born 15 June 1973) 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". [1] She is the founder of the beauty brand Dr.Lipp.

Contents

Background

Pontine Paus was born to Norwegian parents in Athens, Greece, in 1973, and moved to London in 1979. A member of the Paus family on her father's side and the billionaire Wilhelmsen family on her mother's side, she is the eldest daughter of the London-based shipping and petroleum investor Christopher Paus and Cecilie Paus (née Wilhelmsen). Her father is the son of the steel industrialist Per Paus and Countess Hedevig Wedel-Jarlsberg, whose father was Lord Chamberlain Peder Anker Wedel-Jarlsberg. Her mother belongs to the Wilhelmsen shipping family and has owned Wilh. Wilhelmsen with her siblings since 1978. Pontine Paus' maternal grandfather was shipping magnate Tom Wilhelmsen. She is a Norwegian citizen, but has lived all her life in Greece and England. Her sister Olympia is married to Alexander Nix. [2]

Career

She attended Marlborough College, an independent boarding school in Wiltshire, and later studied industrial design in Milan before turning to fashion. [3]

As a designer, Paus is known for handbags, as the owner of the House of Paus fashion label. She was called by Vogue as the "hottest new name in handbags" in 2003. [1] Customers have included Kylie Minogue, Queen Silvia of Sweden and Queen Sonja of Norway. [4] In Norway, her handbags are sold by Benedikte Ferner who cites Pontine Paus as her favourite handbag designer, [5] and UK outlets include Paul & Joe, Ananya and Mirage. [6] Her other business endeavours include beauty brand Dr.Lipp.

She is one of the main owners of Wilh. Wilhelmsen; her family combined owns over 60% of the company's shares and additionally several billion in other companies. [7] In 2020 her family branch launched a battle for control over the family's main holding company, due to the fact that her cousin Thomas Wilhelmsen holds the only vote in the company although the female family members own the majority of the shares. [8] [9] Together with other family members she was also a major shareholder of Scorpion Offshore until it was bought by John Fredriksen's Seadrill in 2010. [10]

Personal life

She was in a relationship with Harry Primrose, Lord Dalmeny, the chairman of Sotheby's and heir to the Earldom of Rosebery. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paus family</span> Norwegian family from Oslo

The Paus family is a Norwegian family that first appeared as members of the elite of 16th-century Oslo and that for centuries belonged to Norway's "aristocracy of officials" as priests of the state church, judges and other higher government officials, especially in Upper Telemark. The family is particularly known for its close association with Henrik Ibsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilh. Wilhelmsen</span> Shipping company

Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA (WWH) is a Norwegian multinational maritime group, headquartered in Lysaker, Norway. The group employs more than 21,000 people and has operations in 75 nations. The Wilhelmsen group operates the largest maritime network in the world, with over 2200 locations worldwide.


Leif Frode Onarheim was a Norwegian businessperson and politician for the Conservative Party.

Cecilie Broch Knudsen is a Norwegian artist who was rector of the Oslo National Academy of the Arts from August 2007 to August 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counts of Wedel-Jarlsberg</span>

The Count of Wedel-Jarlsberg is a title of the Norwegian nobility and of the Danish nobility. The family of Wedel-Jarlsberg is a branch of the larger family von Wedel, which comes from Pomerania, Germany. Family members have had a significant position in the 18th and 19th centuries' Norwegian history.

Bettina Banoun is a Norwegian barrister with a doctorate in tax law.

Diderik Børsting Schnitler is a Norwegian businessperson.

Richard Andvord was a Norwegian businessperson and resistance member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Else Werring</span>

Else Werring, née Wilhelmsen was a Norwegian royal hostess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ole Paus (businessman)</span>

Ole Paus was a Norwegian iron and steel industrialist and Chairman of the commercial bank Den norske Creditbank. He was a first cousin of Henrik Ibsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peder Anker Wedel-Jarlsberg</span>

Peder Anker, Count of Wedel-Jarlsberg was a Norwegian courtier, military officer and estate owner. He served as Lord Chamberlain for King Haakon VII of Norway from 1931 to 1945 and was one of the King's closest confidants for over thirty years. In 1946 he succeeded his brother as head of the house of Wedel-Jarlsberg and feudal count (lensgreve), the highest rank of the Dano-Norwegian nobility and equivalent to Duke in other countries.

Peder Nicolas Paus is a Norwegian banker and investor in the petroleum industry. He is a co-founder and former chairman of the international oil and gas exploration company Questerre Energy Corporation.

Nikolai Bent Paus is a Norwegian businessman and real estate investor. He was CEO of the construction company Eeg-Henriksen, Norway's third largest construction company, from 1984 to 1997. Paus was also a major shareholder in the company until all the shares were bought by its then-largest shareholder NCC. Most recently, Nikolai Paus was exposed as an intermediary of and beneficiary of the Playa Sol S.A. offshore entity incorporated in 1989 exposed in the Panama Papers

Cecilie Paus, née Wilhelmsen, is a Norwegian businesswoman in the shipping industry, who lives in London. She has been one of the four main owners of the shipping company Wilh. Wilhelmsen since 1978 together with her three siblings. She is a daughter of the shipping magnate Tom Wilhelmsen and is married to the businessman Christopher Paus. She is the mother of four children, among them daughters Olympia and Pontine Paus, a noted designer.

Thomas Wilhelmsen was a Norwegian shipping magnate and the main owner of Norway's largest shipping company, Wilh. Wilhelmsen. He was also a noted philanthropist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Per Paus</span>

Per Christian Cornelius Paus was a Norwegian steel industrialist and lawyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nix family</span>

The Nix and Ashburner Nix family, of London and Crawley, is an English banking family that became part of the landed gentry in the 19th century, with their family estate Tilgate House in Crawley. Members have been notable as bankers in the City of London, notably as partners in the London bank Fuller, Banbury, Nix & Co, and as large estate owners in Crawley and public officials in Sussex, where John Ashburner Nix served as High Sheriff in 1911. The family had ties to British colonial history, especially Colonial India in the 19th century, and inherited a significant part of their wealth from George Ashburner, a businessman born in India. More recently, family member Alexander Nix became known as CEO of Cambridge Analytica. The family is included as "Nix of Tilgate" in Burke's Landed Gentry.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Wilhelmsen</span> Norwegian shipping magnate (born 1974)

Thomas Wilhelmsen is a Norwegian shipping magnate. He is one of the owners and the current chief executive officer of Wilh. Wilhelmsen, one of the world's largest shipping companies with 21,000 employees in 75 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliane Wedel Jarlsberg</span>

Juliane Cathrine Wilhelmine Wedel Jarlsberg (1818–1872) was a Norwegian court official. She served as the overhoffmesterinne for Queen Louise of Norway.

References

  1. 1 2 Vogue (21 November 2003). "BAGS OF STYLE" . Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  2. "Alexander Nix' norske kone er rederarving" [Alexander Nix' Norwegian wife is a shipping heiress]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 16 April 2018.
  3. "My London: Pontine Paus – Designer and entrepreneur – LDNfashion". ldnfashion.com. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  4. Wenche Fuglehaug. "En håndfull vesker". Aftenposten.no. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  5. Kaja Korsvold. "Ville vesker". Aftenposten.no. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  6. "Planet FASHION". 24 July 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2018.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Wilhelmsen-opprørere har milliarder låst i familiens egen pengebinge". Dagens Næringsliv . 18 February 2020.
  8. "Familieopprør i rederiet". Dagens Næringsliv . 15 February 2020.
  9. "Familieopprør i Wilh. Wilhelmsen, femte generasjon vil fornye eierstruktur og styringsmodell". Finansavisen. 9 February 2020.
  10. TDN Finans (16 February 2006). "Styremedlem hamstrer i Scorpion". DN.no. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  11. "Who has the real power?". Tatler . 29 March 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2019.

Official website