Patriarch Approves Accounts Until Death

“Ruben’s patriarchal disposition meant that it was not until the mid-seventies that his son Hans could take over as the real power holder in Tetra Pak and start running the company almost entirely independently. But Ruben still dominated him to some extent – no major decisions were made without consulting Ruben. Until his death, it was Ruben who ultimately decided what applied. His last action within Tetra Pak was to approve the financial statements – this happened the day before he died.”

“Meanwhile, Hans had to deal with his father, who was the working chairman of the board for both Tetra Pak and Åkerlund & Rausing. He had great respect for both him and Holger, but most of all for his very determined father. Hans did nothing without first getting his father’s approval. In fact, both he and Gad were much more dominated by Ruben than any outsider could guess. Neither of them made any decisions without first consulting Ruben’s opinion.”