The Wallenberg family is a prominent Swedish family of

bankers A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

, industrialists, politicians,

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", wh ...

s and diplomats, present in most large Swedish industrial groups, including

EQT AB EQT AB is a Swedish global investment organization founded in 1994. Its funds invest in private equity (EQT Private Capital Europe & North America), infrastructure (EQT Infrastructure), real estate (EQT Real Estate), growth equity, and ventur ...

Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish Multinational corporation, multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool Corporation, Whi ...

, ABB, SAS Group,

SKF AB SKF (, 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory') is a Swedish bearing (mechanical), bearing and seal (mechanical), seal manufacturing company founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1907. The company manufactures and supplies bearings, seals, lubrication an ...

, Atlas Copco,

Saab AB Saab AB (originally , , acronym SAAB), with subsidiaries collectively known as the Saab Group (), is a Swedish aerospace and defense company, defence company primarily operating from Sweden. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, but its de ...

, and more. In the 1970s, the Wallenberg family businesses employed 40% of Sweden's industrial workforce and represented 40% of the total worth of the Stockholm stock market. The most famous of the Wallenberg family,

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...

, a diplomat, worked in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Between July and December 1944, he issued protective passports and housed Jews, saving tens of thousands of Jewish lives. Their flagship company, Investor AB, has a market capitalization of around $60 billion. The family is also heavily involved in

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

through the Wallenberg foundations, especially the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

History

The earliest known member of the Wallenberg family is Per Hansson (1670–1741) who, in 1692, married Kerstin Jacobsdotter Schuut (1671–1752). Their son, Jakob Persson Wallberg (1699–1758) married twice. The children of his first marriage called themselves Wallberg and those of his second called themselves Wallenberg. Jakob Persson Wallberg was the great-grandfather of André Oscar Wallenberg who, in 1856, founded Stockholms Enskilda Bank, the predecessor of today's

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (; lit. "Scandinavian Private Bank"), abbreviated SEB, is a Swedish bank headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB has a full financial service offering. In Denmark, Finland, Nor ...

. André Oscar Wallenberg's son Knut Agathon Wallenberg took over as CEO of Stockholms Enskilda Bank in 1886. Like many other Wallenberg relatives, Knut Agathon Wallenberg was also involved in Swedish politics and

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs 1914–1917, and member of the Riksdags first chamber (

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

of Sweden) 1907–1919. In 1916, new

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

made it more difficult for banks to own

shares In financial markets, a share (sometimes referred to as stock or equity) is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation. It can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Sha ...

in industrial companies on a long-term basis.

Investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of pr ...

was formed as an investment part of Stockholms Enskilda Bank. Knut Agathon Wallenberg's younger brother Marcus Wallenberg (senior) carried on the tradition and took over as the bank's CEO in 1911, replacing his older brother who was appointed Stockholms Enskilda Bank

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

. Jacob Wallenberg, eldest son of Marcus Wallenberg (senior), became the bank's CEO after Joseph Nachmanso
sv
died in 1927, joined by younger brother Marcus Wallenberg (junior) as the bank's deputy CEO. In 1938, Knut Agathon Wallenberg died. He had no children. Marcus Wallenberg (senior) was appointed Stockholms Enskilda Bank

. During the War the Bank collaborated with the German government. The Secretary of the US Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr. considered Jacob Wallenberg strongly pro-German, and the US subjected the Bank to a blockade that was only lifted in 1947. The fourth generation of Wallenbergs joined the

family business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by Consanguinity , blood, marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business a ...

in 1953, including

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

Marc Wallenberg, eldest son of Marcus Wallenberg (junior), who became a deputy CEO at Stockholms Enskilda Bank in 1953, before taking over as CEO in 1958. After a power struggle between Jacob Wallenberg and his younger brother Marcus Wallenberg (junior), Jacob Wallenberg resigned from the board of directors in 1969. The resignation opened a seat on the bank's board of directors to Peter Wallenberg (senior), younger son of Marcus Wallenberg (junior). Marcus Wallenberg (junior) pushed through a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

agreement between Stockholms Enskilda Bank and rival Skandinaviska Banken in 1971. Soon after, tragedy struck when Marc Wallenberg committed suicide, observers suggested that the act came possibly because Marc Wallenberg felt himself inadequate to the task of leading what was to become the

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

banking giant

. The merger went through in 1972. Marcus Wallenberg (junior), and younger son Peter Wallenberg (senior), focused their interests on the family's investment companies,

and Providentia. Investor now became the family's new flagship business, and, under Marcus Wallenberg (juniors) leadership began actively promoting the restructuring of most of the industrial companies under its control, replacing

board members A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

and promoting younger CEO and other management. Peter Wallenberg (senior) took over after Marcus Wallenberg (junior's) death in 1982. For many outsiders, the change in leadership marked a final moment in the family's more than 100-year dominance of the Swedish banking and industrial

sectors Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a ...

. Yet Peter Wallenberg (senior) rose to the challenge, guiding

and Sweden's industry into a new era. In 1990, it was estimated that the family indirectly controlled one-third of the Swedish

Gross National Product The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total amount of factor incomes earned by the residents of a country. It is equal to gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes received from n ...

. Peter Wallenberg (senior) stepped down from leadership of Investor in 1997. In 2006, the fifth generation took over the Wallenberg sphere. Marcus Wallenberg, son of Marc Wallenberg, Jacob Wallenberg and Peter Wallenberg (junior) both sons of Peter Wallenberg (senior).

Modern business

The Wallenbergs have a very low-key public profile, eschewing conspicuous displays of wealth. The family motto is "Esse, non Videri" (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "To be rather, than to seem). Wallenbergs business empire is often referred to as the Wallenberg sphere, the Wallenberg sphere is a large group of companies where their

investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under th ...

, Investor AB, or foundation asset management company, Foundation Asset Management (FAM), have the

controlling interest A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the maj ...

Notable family members

File:AOWallenberg.jpg, André Oscar Wallenberg (1816–1886) File:KnutWallenberg.jpg, Knut Agathon Wallenberg (1853–1938) File:MarcusWallenberg3.jpg, Marcus Wallenberg Sr. (1864–1943) File:Jacob Wallenberg (1892-1980).jpg, Jacob Wallenberg (1892–1980) File:Marcus wallenberg 1960-1969.jpg, Marcus Wallenberg Jr. (1899–1982) File:Raoul Wallenberg.jpg,

(1912–c.1947) File:MarcWallenberg-jr.jpg, Marc Wallenberg (1924–1971) File:Wallenbergare-peter.jpg, Peter Wallenberg Sr. (1926–2015) File:Jacob Wallenberg at History Marketing Summit 2018 portrait.jpg, Jacob Wallenberg (1956–) File:Recebe em audiência o presidente do Conselho Administrativo do Shandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Electrolux e SAAB - Sistemas de Defesa Aeroespacial, Marcus Wallenberg. (16794468978) (cropped).jpg, Marcus Wallenberg (1956–) File:Max IV invigning Peter Wallenberg Jr 20160621 0039 (27748566472) (cropped).jpg, Peter Wallenberg Jr. (1959–)

References

External links

Wallenberg Family Tree on Kindo

{{Authority control Raoul Wallenberg Banking families Swedish families Swedish businesspeople