Frederik Paulsen is a Swedish billionaire businessman and non-executive chairman of
Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a Swiss multinational biopharmaceutical company specialising in areas such as reproductive health, maternal health, gastroenterology and urology. Ferring has been developing treatments for mothers and babies for over 50 ...
.
Biography
Early life
Frederik Dag Arfst Paulsen was born on 30 October 1950 in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, Sweden, as a Swedish citizen. His father was Frederik Paulsen Sr, the founder of
Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a Swiss multinational biopharmaceutical company specialising in areas such as reproductive health, maternal health, gastroenterology and urology. Ferring has been developing treatments for mothers and babies for over 50 ...
. Paulsen grew up in Sweden, with his father and his father's second wife, Eva Wolf Frandsen – one of the founding researchers at Ferring. He attended school in Sweden and then went on to study chemistry at the Christian Albrecht University in Kiel, (Germany) and business administration at
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion He received his doctoral degree in Demography from
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and ''grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...
in Paris, France.
Career
Since 2003, Paulsen has been based in Switzerland, where Ferring subsequently established its global headquarters in
Saint-Prex
Saint-Prex () is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the district of Morges.
In 1973, St-Prex was awarded the Wakker Prize for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.
History
Saint-Prex is first ment ...
. His business interests focus mainly on the
Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a Swiss multinational biopharmaceutical company specialising in areas such as reproductive health, maternal health, gastroenterology and urology. Ferring has been developing treatments for mothers and babies for over 50 ...
Group where he has worked since 1976 in senior executive positions.
In addition, he has interests in real estate and
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
. Frederik Paulsen also holds several board memberships. Until 2023, he was for instance a member of the board of directors of the
tobacco company
The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies who are engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any ...
Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris I ...
Le Temps
''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has b ...
'', 21 September 2018 (page visited on 17 October 2018).
Since 2009 until 2022, Paulsen also held the position of Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation, in Lausanne, Switzerland. He was appointed Honorary Consul General in 2015. In 2020, he was appointed a Knight of the Order of St. John by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth of England.
Personal life
Exploration
Paulsen is also an explorer. In 2007, alongside Russian Veteran explorer Artur Chilingarov and Australian researcher Mike McDowell, he descended more than 14,000 feet in a Russian MIR submersible to take samples of soil and fauna at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole. In 2010, Paulsen, alongside his travelling companion François Bernard, completed the first crossing of the Bering Strait from America to Russia in an ultralight aircraft.
In the winter of 2013, he became the first man to explore all eight of the Earth's poles.
Philanthropy
As chairman emeritus of Ferring, Paulsen is a founding sponsor of The
Peptide Therapeutics Peptide therapeutics are peptides or polypeptides (oligomers or short polymers of amino acids) which are used to for the treatment of diseases. Naturally occurring peptides may serve as hormones, growth factors, neurotransmitters, ion channel ligan ...
Foundation. He has contributed to the opening of several fertility clinics throughout Russia to help solve its demographics problem. He has donated approximately $40 million to the Museum Kunst der Westküste (Museum of West Coast Art). He has also substantially contributed to the
Salk Institute
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, U.S. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vacci ...
in San Diego, California, Bhutan's Royal Textile Academy and the South Georgia Heritage Trust in Scotland.
Honours and awards
* Doctorate ''honoris causa'', Politics,
Moscow State Institute of International Relations
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) (russian: Московский государственный институт международных отношений (МГИМО), also known as MGIMO University) is an institute of ...
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...
, Scotland, United Kingdom.
* Ehrenbürgerschaft, Honorary Citizenship, awarded by the Christian Albrecht University, Kiel, Germany.
* Орден Дружбы, Order of Friendship presented by President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
of the Russian Federation.
* Нагрудный знак "Почетному полярнику", Honorary Polar Explorer Medal, Aspol, Moscow, Russian Federation.
* མངའ་བདག་དཔལ་གྱི་འཁོར་ལོ། Nga Dap Pel Gi Khorlo, The Order of the Druk Gyalpo, presented by King
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck ( dz, འཇིགས་མེད་གེ་སར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་དབང་ཕྱུག་, ; born 21 February 1980) is the Druk Gyalpo ( Dzongkha: Dragon King) of the Kingdom of Bhutan. After his ...
of
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
.
* Silver Medal of Russian Geographic Society, awarded by the RGS,
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
* Medal of Honour, granted by the Granada Dance and Music International Festival,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...