Hans Rausing
Encyclopedia
Hans Rausing, KBE
, (born 25 March 1926) is a Swedish
businessman based in the United Kingdom
. He made his fortune from his co-inheritance of Tetra Pak
(later Tetra Laval
), a company founded by his father Ruben Rausing
and currently the largest food packaging
company in the world. In the Forbes
ranking of the wealthiest people in the world, Rausing was ranked 83rd, with an estimated wealth of $US
10 billion in 2011.
and his wife Elisabeth (née Varenius). Rausing had two brothers, Gad
and Sven.
, Statistics
and Russian
at Lund University
, graduating in 1948. In 1954, at the age of 28, Rausing was appointed Managing Director of Tetra Pak
, while his brother Gad
became Deputy Managing Director. Rausing retained this post until 1985, when he took over as Chairman of the Board. Rausing left Tetra Pak
in 1993 and sold his 50% share of the company to Gad
in 1995 in what was at the time called the largest private buyout ever in Europe.
Much of the enormous success of Tetra Pak
in the 1970s and 1980s has been credited to the leadership of Hans and Gad
Rausing, who literally took the company from a six-person family business to a global multi-national corporation. Over the course of his business career, Rausing became a specialist in Russia
n affairs and has made many private investments in both Russia
and Ukraine
. He was responsible for the Russian market within Tetra Pak
, and negotiated the first Tetra Pak
machine export to the then Soviet Union
in 1959, eventually making Tetra Pak
the largest foreign employer in Russia
.
Since 1995, Hans Rausing has no remaining financial interests in the Tetra Laval
group. He is currently a stakeholder in EcoLean, an environmentally friendly packaging company based in Sweden.
and Lund University
. Through the Märit and Hans Rausing Fund, they support local community projects in their home county of Sussex.
Through her fund Arcadia, Rausing's daughter Lisbet
is financing the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project at the School for Oriental and African Studies at the University of London
, the Hans Rausing Scholarship in the History of Science at the Imperial College and the Hans Rausing Chair in the History of Science at Uppsala University
, which is also hosting an annual Hans Rausing Lecture in the History of Science.
and Economics
at Lund University
. He is a Visiting Professor at Mälardalens Högskola, Sweden, and Honorary Professor at the University of Dubna, Russia
. He was made a Knight of the British Empire (KBE) in 2006.
, Sigrid
and Hans Kristian Rausing
.
Rausing has been a resident of the UK since 1982 after moving to England for tax purposes. He currently lives in Wadhurst
, East Sussex
, on a 900 acre
(3.6 km²) estate
and collects vintage car
s and raises deer. Rausing also retains a cottage in southern Sweden
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, (born 25 March 1926) is a 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....
businessman based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He made his fortune from his co-inheritance of Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
(later Tetra Laval
Tetra Laval
Tetra Laval is a private multinational corporation of Swedish origin, owned by the Rausing family. In the 1980s Tetra Laval relocated its headquarters to Lausanne, Switzerland....
), a company founded by his father Ruben Rausing
Ruben Rausing
Ruben Rausing was the founder of the liquid food packaging company Tetra Pak. He was born in Helsingborg, Sweden in 1895. On his death Ruben Rausing was Sweden's richest person.-Early life:...
and currently the largest food packaging
Food packaging
Food packaging is packaging for food. It requires protection, tampering resistance, and special physical, chemical, or biological needs. It also shows the product that is labeled to show any nutrition information on the food being consumed....
company in the world. In the Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
ranking of the wealthiest people in the world, Rausing was ranked 83rd, with an estimated wealth of $US
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
10 billion in 2011.
Early life
Rausing was born in 1926 as the second son to industrialist Ruben RausingRuben Rausing
Ruben Rausing was the founder of the liquid food packaging company Tetra Pak. He was born in Helsingborg, Sweden in 1895. On his death Ruben Rausing was Sweden's richest person.-Early life:...
and his wife Elisabeth (née Varenius). Rausing had two brothers, Gad
Gad Rausing
Dr. Gad Rausing was a notable Swedish industrialist and archaeologist. Together with his brother Hans he co-inherited Swedish packaging company Tetra Pak , founded by their father Ruben Rausing and currently the largest food packaging company in the world...
and Sven.
Career
Rausing studied EconomicsEconomics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, Statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
at Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
, graduating in 1948. In 1954, at the age of 28, Rausing was appointed Managing Director of Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
, while his brother Gad
Gad Rausing
Dr. Gad Rausing was a notable Swedish industrialist and archaeologist. Together with his brother Hans he co-inherited Swedish packaging company Tetra Pak , founded by their father Ruben Rausing and currently the largest food packaging company in the world...
became Deputy Managing Director. Rausing retained this post until 1985, when he took over as Chairman of the Board. Rausing left Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
in 1993 and sold his 50% share of the company to Gad
Gad Rausing
Dr. Gad Rausing was a notable Swedish industrialist and archaeologist. Together with his brother Hans he co-inherited Swedish packaging company Tetra Pak , founded by their father Ruben Rausing and currently the largest food packaging company in the world...
in 1995 in what was at the time called the largest private buyout ever in Europe.
Much of the enormous success of Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
in the 1970s and 1980s has been credited to the leadership of Hans and Gad
Gad Rausing
Dr. Gad Rausing was a notable Swedish industrialist and archaeologist. Together with his brother Hans he co-inherited Swedish packaging company Tetra Pak , founded by their father Ruben Rausing and currently the largest food packaging company in the world...
Rausing, who literally took the company from a six-person family business to a global multi-national corporation. Over the course of his business career, Rausing became a specialist in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n affairs and has made many private investments in both Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. He was responsible for the Russian market within Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
, and negotiated the first Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
machine export to the then Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1959, eventually making Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is a multinational food processing and packaging company of Swedish origin. It was founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden, by Ruben Rausing. It was Erik Wallenberg who invented the tetrahedral package, today known as Tetra Classic...
the largest foreign employer in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Since 1995, Hans Rausing has no remaining financial interests in the Tetra Laval
Tetra Laval
Tetra Laval is a private multinational corporation of Swedish origin, owned by the Rausing family. In the 1980s Tetra Laval relocated its headquarters to Lausanne, Switzerland....
group. He is currently a stakeholder in EcoLean, an environmentally friendly packaging company based in Sweden.
Patronage
Hans Rausing and his wife Märit have donated large sums to charities and research in the UK and Sweden, among others to large medical research projects at Karolinska InstitutetKarolinska Institutet
Karolinska institutet is a medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area, Sweden, and one of Europe's largest medical universities...
and Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
. Through the Märit and Hans Rausing Fund, they support local community projects in their home county of Sussex.
Through her fund Arcadia, Rausing's daughter Lisbet
Lisbet Rausing
Dr Lisbet Rausing, born 1960, is a Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College’s Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. She holds honorary doctorates from Uppsala University, Imperial College and SOAS, and is a fellow of the Linnean Society, the Royal Historical Society and the...
is financing the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project at the School for Oriental and African Studies at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, the Hans Rausing Scholarship in the History of Science at the Imperial College and the Hans Rausing Chair in the History of Science at Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
, which is also hosting an annual Hans Rausing Lecture in the History of Science.
Honors
Hans Rausing has been appointed Doctor Honoris Causa in MedicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at Lund University
Lund University
Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
. He is a Visiting Professor at Mälardalens Högskola, Sweden, and Honorary Professor at the University of Dubna, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. He was made a Knight of the British Empire (KBE) in 2006.
Personal life
Hans Rausing is married to Märit Rausing and has two daughters and one son, LisbetLisbet Rausing
Dr Lisbet Rausing, born 1960, is a Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College’s Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. She holds honorary doctorates from Uppsala University, Imperial College and SOAS, and is a fellow of the Linnean Society, the Royal Historical Society and the...
, Sigrid
Sigrid Rausing
Sigrid Rausing is a Swedish philanthropist, anthropologist and publisher. She is the founder of the Sigrid Rausing Trust, one of the United Kingdom's largest philanthropic foundations, and owner of Granta magazine and its publishing arm, Granta Books.Rausing grew up in Lund, Sweden, and studied...
and Hans Kristian Rausing
Hans Kristian Rausing
Hans Kristian Rausing, born 1963, is the son of Swedish packaging businessman Hans Rausing. He is married to an American named Eva Kemeny. Together they have donated millions of pounds to various charities, most notably Drug Awareness and Addiction Prevention charities...
.
Rausing has been a resident of the UK since 1982 after moving to England for tax purposes. He currently lives in Wadhurst
Wadhurst
Wadhurst is a market town in East Sussex, England. It is the centre of the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook. Wadhurst is twinned with Aubers in France.-Situation:...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, on a 900 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
(3.6 km²) estate
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
and collects vintage car
Vintage car
A vintage car is commonly defined as a car built between the start of 1919 and the end of 1930 known as the "Vintage era". There is little debate about the start date of the vintage period—the end of World War I is a nicely defined marker there—but the end date is a matter of a little...
s and raises deer. Rausing also retains a cottage 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....
.