AB Lito & Kartong

"Soon it also became apparent that external factors were not the major problem in Ruben and Erik Åkerlund’s company. Instead, it was the finances within AB Lito & Kartong that became the major stumbling block. Erik Åkerlund had been in such a hurry to buy the company that he had not taken the time to check the books. Instead, he had settled for Gustav Olsson’s guarantee that the business was profitable. When Ruben analyzed the accounts for 1929 at the beginning of 1930, he was horrified. The losses were so great that it would likely take several years to turn the situation around – if at all possible."

"At the same time, he heard about the Malmö company AB Lito & Kartong, which had previously yielded good profits. Among other things, the company had managed to outcompete SLT in the fight for deliveries to the Tobacco Monopoly, which was the country’s largest packaging consumer. However, the company had now run into financial difficulties after the owner, Gustav Olsson, had been fined heavily for false declaration. Moreover, Lito & Kartong had quite immediately lost the contract with the Tobacco Monopoly, after it was revealed that Olsson had bribed his way to it. Since the Tobacco Monopoly was the company’s biggest customer, the financial loss was extremely noticeable."

"A week later, Ruben was visited by the always heavily cigar-smelling star lawyer Emil Henriques. Initially, Henriques introduced himself as Erik Åkerlund’s representative. Then he placed a check for 100,000 kronor in front of Ruben. It was to be considered as a transition sum if Ruben left SLT, Henriques explained to the astonished Ruben. Then, he produced a contract. In it, Ruben was named as the CEO of AB Lito & Kartong with the staggering annual salary of 60,000 kronor. In addition to this, he would also receive a 15 percent commission on the net profit."