Country of Citizenship
Sweden
Residence
United Kingdom
Approximate Worth
£2,500 m
Fortune
Inherited
Source of Wealth
Inheritance, Investment
Biography
Sales are booming at Tetra Laval, the Swiss-based packaging group. In 2005, they rose 7.5% and even higher in 2006, when they rose above £6bn. The group is also expanding its operations in the fast-growing Chinese market with a near £20m investment to double the size of an existing plant. This is good news for the brother and sister team of Jorn and Kirsten Rausing, who are both on the board of Tetra Laval. The pair live and work in Britain and are two of the three children of the late Gad Rausing, co-founder of the Swedish Tetra Pak packaging group which merged with Alfa-Laval to form Tetra Laval in 1993.
Aside from his role in Tetra Laval where he heads its mergers and acquisitions operation, Jorn Rausing is a shrewd investor in his own right. He has a 7% stake in Ocado, the online retailer. Ocado’s flotation has been postponed while the group concentrates on building its business. Sales in 2005, soared 70% to £153m, which will be welcomed by the low-key Jorn. His stake costs him £15m but will be worth a multiple of that when a float takes place possibly in 2007.
Kirsten owns two Suffolk stud farms and is a passionate horse racing enthusiast. But despite her inheritance, Rausing did not use any of her family money to set up the stud operation. She did it all herself, with a perfectly balanced mix of knowledge of horses, and pure chutzpah. In 1994, she became a non-executive director of the British Bloodstock Agency, which buys and sells racehorses on behalf of wealthy clients. She bought a near 10% stake in February 1991. Kirsten also owns the Staffordstown Stud in County Meath, Ireland.
