Electrolux

"The 1970s witnessed the rise of a decentralized governance philosophy influenced by two successful CEOs: Hans Werthén, former CEO and chairman of Electrolux, and Jan Wallander, former CEO of Handelsbanken."

"Werthén’s leadership in Electrolux provided a compelling example of success for Carl Bennet. The autonomy given to local managers fostered a culture of ownership and efficiency that resonated deeply. Bennet fully embraced it as a guiding model."

"cash-based incentive structure and significant managerial responsibility, has fostered strong employee loyalty. It’s rare for leaders to leave Lifco; to date, only one high-ranking leader, an external hire, has done so. Lifco is deeply committed to preserving its performance-driven culture. Like the prime years of Electrolux in the 1970s and 1980s, Lifco rewards its managers generously when they deliver results. In fact, many Lifco managers earn salaries comparable to public company CEOs in Sweden, reducing any incentive to…"

"What made this transaction particularly significant was that it marked the first time Electrolux had sold one of its divisions to former employees, underscoring the unique business acumen the duo had developed under the mentorship of Hans Werthén."

"1989, Bennet, only 38 years old, together with Andersson made history when they acquired Getinge, a struggling medical division within Electrolux."

"Lifco’s history is deeply intertwined with the story of its primary owner, Carl Bennet, one of Sweden’s most prominent industrialists. In 1980, at the age of 29, Bennet joined Electrolux. At the time, Electrolux was a fast-growing acquisition-driven compounder, on its way to becoming one of the world’s largest home appliances companies through acquisitive growth fueled by 200 acquisitions over two decades."

"During their time at Electrolux, Carl Bennet and Rune Andersson developed a solid professional and personal bond, discovering that they shared a common mindset and worked well together. When Andersson took on the role of CEO at Trelleborg, Bennet, recognizing Rune’s skills, purchased 1% of Trelleborg’s shares and was at the time Trelleborg’s largest private investor. Over the next few years, this investment yielded a remarkable return of 3,000% (31×), driven by the company’s outstanding performance. This provided Bennet and Andersson with the capital they needed for a historical transaction that would shape Carl Bennet’s history as an industrialist and a long-term investor."

"One of the key reasons for their achievement was that Getinge, then a small and nearly forgotten part of Electrolux, had not raised its prices in nearly a decade."

"After Alfa Laval’s dismissive attitude, Ruben seemed somewhat dejected, but he soon thought of a new financier: Axel Wenner-Gren. The immensely wealthy founder of Electrolux was a rather un-Swedish person. He did not hesitate to show off his wealth in all sorts of contexts. To have a comfortable residence, he had Häringe Castle built outside Stockholm. The cost of things did not matter; architects and builders were instructed to only use the best and finest available on the market. When he went out with his luxury yacht, he made sure to always have a retinue of politicians, celebrities, and film stars – both Swedes and more internationally known people were seen on his boat. Actually, his last name was Wennergren, but he changed it to the more imposing Wenner-Gren."

"When Kim Wahl called Electrolux and asked to buy one of their subsidiaries, the old sewing machine manufacturer Huskvarna, he was turned down several times. “We don’t want to sell, Huskvarna is part of our core business,” was the response."

"When Björn Savén was 26 years old, his father died of a heart attack, which hit him hard. That was one of the reasons why he and his future wife Inger returned to Sweden after his graduation from Harvard. They wanted to be close to family, his mother, and sister. Here, he sought out Esselte, a growing international multibillion company that sold office supplies. Sven Wallgren was the boss there. He belonged, together with business leaders like Hans Werthén at Electrolux, to the generation that started a wave of international corporate acquisitions in the 1970s and 1980s. Sweden was on the offensive, even though currency regulations still restricted freedom."

"In the group “owners of flesh and blood” are also included others with inherited fortunes, the heavyweight Fredrik Lundberg, as well as a number of medium-sized, more unknown families whose main wealth consists of the family company. To these is added a handful of new active capitalists such as Gustaf Douglas, Melker Schörling, Rune Andersson, and Carl Bennet. They have built their corporate groups themselves and became rich in connection with the historic stock market boom of the 1980s and the later part of the 1990s. Bennet bought Getinge from Electrolux and listed it on the stock exchange, Schörling laid the foundation for his corporate group when, as CEO, he was allowed to buy 20 percent of Securitas before it was listed. Securitas also helped make Douglas rich, and Rune Andersson, as CEO of the listed company Trelleborg, bought shares there. With luck, skill, timing, and some loans, they have built their empires. Each of them constitutes a force in Swedish business, with their opinions and their capital. Carl Bennet has good contacts in politics, mainly with the Social Democrats, and Gustaf Douglas sits on the Moderate Party’s executive committee."

"There are many meetings now. Stefan Persson has taken the time to commute between several boardrooms outside of H&M for a couple of years. He cannot say no when the Wallenberg family calls and gives him a seat on the board of the appliance company Electrolux, where Jacob Wallenberg, among others, sits. Wallenberg has been a leading industrial family for a long time, and there is a lot to learn from that experience. The family controls a dozen Swedish large corporations the size of H&M, such as Ericsson, Electrolux, and Saab, but without serving as CEOs. Typically, they govern as board members instead."