Borger Arildssøn Lenth (born 13 December 1937) was a Norwegian civil servant, banker and lawyer. He was born in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

as a son of triple jumper Arild Lenth (1904–1972) and Guri Bakke (1910–1989). In 1963 he married Hanne Kirsten Jenssen. He finished his secondary education in his hometown in 1956, and in 1962 he graduated from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

with a

cand.jur. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree. He was a deputy judge in Hamar and studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

in the 1960s. He also chaired the tennis group in

Hamar IL Hamar Idrettslag is a Norway, Norwegian sports club from Hamar. It has sections for bandy, curling, association football, sport of athletics, athletics, sport shooting, Rowing (sport), rowing, speed skating, Diving (sport), diving, swimming (spor ...

in 1963. His main career track, as a banker, started in 1965 in

Den norske Creditbank Den norske Creditbank or DnC is a defunct Norwegian commercial bank created in 1857. In 1990 it merged with Bergen Bank to create Den norske Bank (DnB). The bank was based in Oslo and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange () ( ...

(DnC). He was steadily promoted to managerial positions by chief executive Johan Melander, until Lenth became deputy chief executive in 1980. Melander retired in the same year. Lenth was deputy chief executive for two years, then became director of the

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is primarily concerned with offering development aid to international partners, but in matters regarding Norway's Inter ...

from 1982 to 1984 and permanent under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Development Cooperation from 1984 to 1985. He returned to his old position in DnC, but also took an MBA at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

and was hired as chief executive of Eksportfinans in 1987. From 1991 to 1997 he was the chief executive of

Christiania Bank- og Kreditkasse Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, branded domestically as Kreditkassen or K-Bank and internationally as Christiania Bank+ was a Norwegian bank that existed between 1848 and 2000 when it merged with MeritaNordbanken and became Nordea. The bank ha ...

. After that he was a partner in the law firm Hjort DA and bought the farm Svestad in . Lenth has been chairman of Treschow-Fritzøe and BN Bank and vice chairman of

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

, and a board member of

Norfund Norfund is a development finance institution established by the Norwegian Storting (parliament) in 1997 and owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fund receives its investment capital from the state budget, and surpluses in the port ...

. He also chairs

Save the Children Norway Save the Children International, formerly known as the International Save The Children Alliance, is a worldwide non-profit organization that aims to improve the living of children. There are 30 Save the Children member organizations around the wo ...

since 2005, and was a member of the financial committee for the

Ibsen Year The Ibsen Year 2006 (Norwegian: ''Ibsenåret 2006'') was the Norwegian government's official celebration of Henrik Ibsen in 2006, marking the 100th anniversary of his death. The Ibsen Year included cultural events in multiple countries, including an ...

. He is a member of the gentleman's clubs Det Norske Selskab and Det grønne Selskab.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenth, Borger A 1937 births Living people People from Hamar University of Oslo alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Harvard Business School alumni Norwegian bankers Directors of government agencies of Norway