Clarkson

"In the fight to find buyers in an impossible market, little remained untried. The brokerage firm Clarkson in London came up with an apparently unlikely buyer. The world's richest man, the Sultan of Brunei – the oil-rich small state on the island of Borneo – was willing to buy three supertankers for 80 million dollars each. The contact was between the brokerage firm and the Sultan's dispatched worker in London. The Sultan might have liked to become a shipowner, but they were not going to operate the ships. Seller John Fredriksen had to lease the ships back at a rate of 33,000 dollars every single day for ten years. The market price at the same time was 10,000 dollars a day. Despite stinging harsh conditions, Fredriksen had little choice but to accept and hope that the Sultan would not change his mind in his gold-covered palace. But he did."

"The old feuds with former drinking buddies and friends were history, a new court was in place. At the forefront was none other than Little Wolf, Tor Olav Trøim, who was never far away. Just as loyal, and apparently always in the shipowner's favor, was Nordea's Calle Steen, the man who had conjured up a loan of one and a half billion during the banking crisis ten years earlier. Among brokers, many would like to be in the inner circle of the court, but undoubtedly, one finds the brokerage firm Platou there. They were the world's leading ship brokerage firm in the early 70s along with British Clarkson but fell to mediocrity in Norway. The contact with Fredriksen brought the firm back towards old heights and record results, thanks to the socially intelligent chief Peter Anker and the experienced broker Wilhelm Holst. In stocks, Fearnley and their Harald Moræus Hansen are never far away. They have been good at finding undervalued shipping stocks worldwide, especially in Asia. With the great interest in offshore, eventually Pareto entered the innermost circle, their Stein Schie being for many years John Fredriksen's court broker on the offshore sector when he worked at the company Normarine Offshore, and he brought the client into Pareto. Fredriksen still has some of his old friends, such as Petter Olsen and Petter Thorendal. But with limited time in Norway, it can only be sporadic contact; business and family take all the time. And after all, it has been twenty-five years since he moved from the country. Both geographical distance and tens of billions in economic distance tend to create distance."

"In the fight to find buyers in an impossible market, little remained untried. The brokerage firm Clarkson in London came up with an apparently unlikely buyer. The world's richest man, the Sultan of Brunei – the oil-rich small state on the island of Borneo – was willing to buy three supertankers for 80 million dollars each. The contact was between the brokerage firm and the Sultan's dispatched worker in London. The Sultan might have liked to become a shipowner, but they were not going to operate the ships. Seller John Fredriksen had to lease the ships back at a rate of 33,000 dollars every single day for ten years. The market price at the same time was 10,000 dollars a day. Despite stinging harsh conditions, Fredriksen had little choice but to accept and hope that the Sultan would not change his mind in his gold-covered palace. But he did."

"Over the years, John Fredriksen has made many in his court rich. One group is those who broker freight agreements. Just from Frontline alone, brokers estimate that well over a hundred million kroner are paid out each year to firms such as Platou, Bassøe, Fearnleys, and Clarkson."