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New head of Norway's sovereign wealth fund is sacrificing wealth for his dream job

2020-08-25T16:01:24.376Z


Shortly before taking over as head of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, Nicolai Tangen has to dispel concerns. In order to avoid conflicts of interest, the hedge fund founder gives up his voting rights and dividends for all "eternity".


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Nicolai Tangen at a press conference at the Norwegian Central Bank in May.

Photo: Gwladys Fouche / REUTERS

The future head of the $ 1.1 trillion Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, Nicolai Tangen (53), is giving up large parts of his assets in order to be allowed to start his new job. The billionaire agreed on Monday to hand over his shares in his own hedge fund to a charitable foundation and to reorganize his other investments.

"I want to be the head of the oil fund, and I have only one goal: to create prosperity for future generations," said Tangen on Monday. And obviously he is ready to make sacrifices for it.

Tangen is a multi-billionaire, philanthropist and veteran of London's financial world. The decision of the Norwegian central bank announced in March to put him at the head of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund on September 1 had triggered criticism from the state audit office and parliament over possible conflicts of interest.

Tangen had thereupon already signaled a concession. His plan to transfer the 43 percent stake in the Ako Capital hedge fund to a blind trust was rejected by the finance committee of the Norwegian parliament as inadequate. This had jeopardized Tangen's appeal and led some MPs to demand the resignation of Central Bank Governor Øystein Olsen (68). On Friday, Finance Minister Jan Tore Sanner (55) asked Olsen to find a solution to address Parliament's concerns.

Break with Sting for the dream job

Established in 1996, the fund is the treasurer of the Norwegian people because it manages the income from the oil business. He holds stakes in around 9,200 companies worldwide and owns 1.5 percent of all listed shares, as well as bonds and real estate. After the fund initially suffered from the Corona crisis, it was last able to report the most successful quarter in its history: with a surplus of $ 131 billion. The fund manages around $ 214,000 for every man, woman and child in Norway - the position of the boss is correspondingly highly prestigious.

Tangen is now to transfer his holding company with voting and dividend rights "forever" to a charitable foundation. Norges Bank announced that he would no longer have any ownership interests in Ako Capital. The Ako Foundation claims that it supports projects for education, art and climate protection. Exactly how much Tangens shares in his hedge fund are worth is unclear. In any case, he won't be a poor man: he said, he still had bank balances of over $ 778 million.

While Tangen had previously ruled out parting with Ako, he has long described the role of head of the state fund as his "dream job". To get hold of it, he flew several influential Norwegians to a seminar in the USA at his own expense last November, garnished with a performance by pop star Sting. Participants also included his predecessors Yngve Slyngstad (57) and Knut Kjær (64).

Tangen was asked whether he was now angry after the separation from his assets, which central bank chief Olsen had urged him to do. His answer: "No ... but I think I can safely say that Olsen now owes me a beer."

ak / reuters

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2020-08-25

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