Erik Wachtmeister
Encyclopedia
Count
Erik Wachtmeister is the founding chairman of ASMALLWORLD
Holdings, Inc. The son of Swedish
Ambassador
Count
Wilhelm Wachtmeister
and Countess Ulla Wachtmeister, he earned a Master of Business Administration
from INSEAD
in 1983. He has a long professional background in international investment banking, and is currently planning to launch the new social media
site BestofallWorlds.com.
Wilhelm Wachtmeister
, and partly raised on the Wanås estate in southern Sweden
. His mother is a painter, while his father was a career diplomat, and notably the Swedish Ambassador
to the United States
from 1974 to 1989, and a close personal friend of George Bush Senior. He also has two sisters.
Wachtmeister earned a Bachelor of Science
in Foreign Service from Georgetown University
in 1977 and a Master of Business Administration
from INSEAD
in 1983.
in New York City
/Los Angeles
and Rothschild
in New York. He also worked at Lehman Brothers
in London
and New York
. He created his own business in 1993, doing private placements for public companies. In 2000 he became the founding CEO of the UK-based Viking Internet, an investment company that he later took public on the London Stock Exchange
.
Throughout this time period he lived in ten cities, including Washington DC, New York
, Los Angeles, Paris
, London, Moscow
, Stockholm
, and Kiev
. In January 2008 he joined the advisory board of the Kiwi Collection, a web-based luxury travel resource.
founded the social networking website ASMALLWORLD
. Wachtmeister served as CEO and Chairman, and Louise as Marketing Director. He claims he started working on the concept of an exclusive social networking site for jetsetters in 1998, when the idea occurred to him during a wild boar hunt in the German
forest. He stated "In traveling extensively to the world's social hot spots for many years, I realized there was a community of global nomads who hang out together. I decided to make a business out of helping them meet and find solutions to their common problems." The website launched two years before Facebook
was made available to non-college members, and was dubbed "MySpace
for millionaires" by the Wall Street Journal. New members must receive an invitation from a pre-existing member with invitation privileges to be accepted. As of September 2007, the site had 150,000 users. By May 2008, the number had grown to 320,000 members, with about 65% of members from Europe and 20% from the United States
. By April of 2010, Wachtmeister had ceased to be active with managing the website, and membership was in excess of 500,000.
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Erik Wachtmeister is the founding chairman of ASMALLWORLD
ASmallWorld
aSmallWorld is an on-line social network service similar to XING, and LinkedIn. It is an exclusive network with roughly 770,000 members that was founded by Erik and Louise Wachtmeister.-Features:...
Holdings, Inc. The son of Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Wilhelm Wachtmeister
Wilhelm Wachtmeister
Count Wilhelm Hans Fredrik Wachtmeister is a Swedish career diplomat who served as the Swedish Ambassador to the United States for 15 years from 1974 to 1989, eventually becoming the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in 1986, as the longest-serving ambassador in the U.S. diplomatic corps...
and Countess Ulla Wachtmeister, he earned a Master of Business Administration
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
from INSEAD
INSEAD
INSEAD is an international graduate business school and research institution. It has campuses in Europe , Asia , and the Middle East , as well as a research center in Israel...
in 1983. He has a long professional background in international investment banking, and is currently planning to launch the new social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
site BestofallWorlds.com.
Early life, education
Erik Wachtmeister was born to the Countess Ulla Wachtmeister and CountCount
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Wilhelm Wachtmeister
Wilhelm Wachtmeister
Count Wilhelm Hans Fredrik Wachtmeister is a Swedish career diplomat who served as the Swedish Ambassador to the United States for 15 years from 1974 to 1989, eventually becoming the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in 1986, as the longest-serving ambassador in the U.S. diplomatic corps...
, and partly raised on the Wanås estate in southern Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. His mother is a painter, while his father was a career diplomat, and notably the Swedish Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1974 to 1989, and a close personal friend of George Bush Senior. He also has two sisters.
Wachtmeister earned a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in Foreign Service from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in 1977 and a Master of Business Administration
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
from INSEAD
INSEAD
INSEAD is an international graduate business school and research institution. It has campuses in Europe , Asia , and the Middle East , as well as a research center in Israel...
in 1983.
Investment banking
After graduating, Wachmeister went on to hold senior corporate finance positions with Ladenburg ThalmannLadenburg Thalmann
Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services, a NYSE Amex-listed company , is a diversified financial services company with two primary business lines: independent brokerage and advisory, and investment banking and capital markets...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
/Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Rothschild
N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons is a private investment banking company, belonging to the Rothschild family...
in New York. He also worked at Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He created his own business in 1993, doing private placements for public companies. In 2000 he became the founding CEO of the UK-based Viking Internet, an investment company that he later took public on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
.
Throughout this time period he lived in ten cities, including Washington DC, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Los Angeles, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, London, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, and Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. In January 2008 he joined the advisory board of the Kiwi Collection, a web-based luxury travel resource.
ASMALLWORLD
In March of 2004, Wachtmeister and his wife LouiseLouise Wachtmeister
Countess Louise Wachtmeister is a Swedish entrepreneur, athlete, and political activist. She was President of the largest chapter of the Conservative Youth Party in Stockholm for four years, and has held elected positions with the Stockholm City Hall and Stockholm District Court...
founded the social networking website ASMALLWORLD
ASmallWorld
aSmallWorld is an on-line social network service similar to XING, and LinkedIn. It is an exclusive network with roughly 770,000 members that was founded by Erik and Louise Wachtmeister.-Features:...
. Wachtmeister served as CEO and Chairman, and Louise as Marketing Director. He claims he started working on the concept of an exclusive social networking site for jetsetters in 1998, when the idea occurred to him during a wild boar hunt in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
forest. He stated "In traveling extensively to the world's social hot spots for many years, I realized there was a community of global nomads who hang out together. I decided to make a business out of helping them meet and find solutions to their common problems." The website launched two years before Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
was made available to non-college members, and was dubbed "MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
for millionaires" by the Wall Street Journal. New members must receive an invitation from a pre-existing member with invitation privileges to be accepted. As of September 2007, the site had 150,000 users. By May 2008, the number had grown to 320,000 members, with about 65% of members from Europe and 20% from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. By April of 2010, Wachtmeister had ceased to be active with managing the website, and membership was in excess of 500,000.
Best of All Worlds
Wachtmeister has stated he and his wife are working on a new website. Expected launch date of the site is rumored to be in summer of 2011.Further reading
- The New York Times: Facebook for the Few (September 6, 2007)
- Forward Magazine: Count Erik’s World (April 13, 2010)
External links
- BestofallWorlds
- Erik Wachtmeister on MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Erik Wachtmeister on TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
- Erik Wachtmeister on FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
- Erik Wachtmeister on LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,...