John Fredriksen

"John Fredriksen was waiting for one of his drinking buddies, the fourteen years older Jan Petter Røed. The night before, they had been up until four o'clock, in the dark streets of the area around Bugis Street, the haven for transvestites. Fredriksen smiled at the thought of this, Singapore's biggest tourist attraction. There were many greenhorns who got a surprise there. He signaled to the Indian at the bar to get another gin and tonic. The hangover was starting to let go, even though the heat clung both suit and shirt to his back."

"The shy and reserved John Fredriksen made such a favorable impression on the suited gentlemen at Blehr & Tenvig that he outcompeted his fellow applicants from the upper west side. The starting salary was 600 kroner per month. John Fredriksen did not know it as he sat on the tram from Helsfyr on January 2, 1961, on his way to his first day of work, but he had actually started at "shipbroking school." This was the way most shipbrokers had begun their career. The environment was little academic, and it suited him perfectly."

"Shipbrokering is about information, and few managed to gather and remember as many details as Fredriksen. The many small pieces are what make the difference sooner or later when competing with a host of other brokers for a deal. Moreover, John Fredriksen had flair; he smelled money and opportunities."

"The Norwegian Northern Shipping AS never showed large profits. The company covered its costs, but not much more. The income was brokerage fees, primarily from John Fredriksen and his young, talented British broker Simon Day, but also from co-owner Peter Siemer. No one has ever become really rich from that. It would indeed have helped if the brokerage fees had gone entirely to Northern Shipping on Karl Johans street. However, along the way from their main customer Fahdi Shipping in Athens, a significant portion of the revenues disappeared. Instead, they went to an account in Jersey, which is not troubled by any noteworthy taxation."

"The gold rush began early in 1978, and the starting point was the least likely for the arch-capitalist John Fredriksen, namely East Germany. Ocean Tanker managed the entire East German tanker fleet, eight ships, and Northern Shipping brokered all the shipments. The Soviet Union supplied the Germans with oil, but occasionally turned off the taps, and then the Germans themselves had to send their ships to friendly Iraq and exchange for oil. Otherwise, Ocean Tanker controlled the fleet, but this limited freedom of action meant that the price Ocean Tanker paid was low. Much lower than what a skilled broker could achieve for individual trips in the market."

"Again, John Fredriksen was left with crumbs, while his clients flaunted their golden touch and lucrative contacts in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iraq. And yet, they had no clue about shipping. One time Ali El-din Al-Bahri came to Scandinavia to inspect a boat, he showed up in a yellow mink coat and showed the most interest in the curtains on board! On another occasion, Al-Bahri got a relative a job as an electrician on one of the ships. The man went straight to the Norwegian captain and declared that he was now the boss. The captain responded by immediately sending the electrician ashore."

"sitting with his closest associates, disbelieving the profit. The difference between the freight income from single trips, the so-called spot market, and what Fredriksen was to pay the shipowners, was at one point up to $20,000 a day. With ten ships under these terms, it brought in $200,000 net into the account, well over a million kroner. Every single day. – John Fredriksen thought he had grasped God's foot, one of his associates said afterwards."

"John Fredriksen did not get rid of his bank box full of diamonds. The diamond prices plummeted in the years after the investment, and it became too burdensome to sell at a significant loss. Fredriksen also encountered another problem. The bank box contained so many diamonds that they could not be sold all at once without crashing the market. Who says the rich live carefree lives?"

"John Fredriksen rarely thinks long-term. Buy today, sell tomorrow, take the profit when it’s there. These years leading up to the 90s were perfect for such a mindset. With the best broker contacts and a knack for good deals, Fredriksen made millions of dollars each time a ship was bought and sold. He himself claimed to have earned 100 million dollars each year from such quick transactions during the period 1987–89. An incredible amount, which may be somewhat exaggerated. It requires about 25-30 purchases and sales during the year, and even Fredriksen must have had difficulties keeping up."

"John Fredriksen was everywhere at this time, unstoppable in his search for a deal, like a drug for the mind. No part of shipping was uninteresting. He bought old drilling rigs without contracts, only to sell them almost immediately. The profit from just a few months of trading rigs was about 200 million kroner. From the bankrupt Jan Erik Dyvi, four heavy-lift ships were purchased. The rule was otherwise everything was for sale, immediately."

"those who want to be first, must take a chance and order when no one else dares. John Fredriksen did so. The shipyards in Korea and Japan had empty order books from 1991 onwards and were pressured into lowering prices."

"Christmas 1995 was for the family, and it was only a few days later that John Fredriksen noticed a small inconspicuous article in Dagens Næringsliv on December 27. It was about possible acquisitions in shipping, and among many candidates, the pink newspaper mentioned Nordic American Shipping (NAS) in Sandefjord. "Potential takeover candidate," it said, with "open ownership structure." In good Norwegian, it meant that the shareholders in NAS were not in love with either steel, directors, or offices. In other words, they would sell if the price was right. Fredriksen chuckled to himself, if only they knew… If the article was also read in Sandefjord, it didn't raise any alarms for Herbjørn Hansson, popularly called "Hebbe-Lille". The booming yet charming man from Rogaland had built up NAS with NOK 50,000 in equity and with his brother and his wife on the board. But then, Hansson was also in the inner circle of established shipowners: former chief of Intertanko and financial director at Kosmos during the war with the Blystad brothers. Indeed, "Hebbe-Lille" took his daily swim every morning in the pool at Park Hotel, confident that he was a big man in Sandefjord. What Hansson did not know, and neither did the journalists at Dagens Næringsliv, was that the period after Christmas was also busy in the floors below the newspaper at Grev Wedels Plass in Oslo. At Fearnley Funds they worked intensively to prepare a lightning attack on the Sandefjord shipping company on behalf of Fredriksen. The suit-clad brokers who ate their bread rolls and glanced over at the unkempt radicals from the newspaper were used to discussing entirely different things than business in the common canteen. The skepticism was mutual, and the ship brokers knew that journalists could have long ears. Therefore, nothing leaked out."

"During the waiting period, on the night of August 2nd, Saddam Hussein attacked his neighbors in Kuwait, changing the global picture. For shipowners with large tankers, this was a day of terror. Instantly, all of Iraq and Kuwait's oil production was cut off from the world market. That was four million barrels a day, most of which was carried by the world's aged and rust-through tanker fleet. If Saddam crossed the border into Saudi Arabia, he could quickly reach the massive oil fields at Ras Tanura and shut off the taps for another eight million barrels a day. Such prospects were the worst imaginable for tanker owners. The world fleet of roughly 300 large tankers has no mission without the oil flow from the Gulf. No other shipowner in the world would have been more heavily affected than John Fredriksen, with two new supertankers delivered and six more on order. Steel worth over four billion kroner without use."

"Sture also mastered the art of surprise. He contacted Johan Warpe and lawyer Ola Røthe and invited them to Stora Julaboda. Just three days after Fredriksen's attempted arrest, Eriksen and Warpe entered into a peculiar agreement. Sture bought ten percent of Warpe's 100 million-claim on Fredriksen, with an option to buy the remaining 90 percent. While Sture had previously spoken very scornfully about Warpe's claim, both around restaurant tables and in public, the tone now changed. To Dagens Næringsliv he said: – Due to John Fredriksen's excesses, I am now joining forces with Johan Warpe to demand the money Warpe has been entitled to for several years, based on very clear agreements. The new partners raised the claim to 35 million dollars, 200 million kroner, because Fredriksen had become wealthier since the last time…"

"In January 1996, fortune turned for John Fredriksen. True, NAS went bust, but that was a trifle. More importantly, Kreditkassen once again stood behind its most important shipping customer. Calle Steen and his team managed to involve an international banking syndicate in lending the Fredriksen group 230 million dollars based on the rising ship values. Suddenly, Fredriksen had 650 million kroner in cash, and with bright prospects in the industry, the money was burning a hole in his pocket. Just days after NAS went bust, Fredriksen attempted a blitz attack on the drilling company Neddrill in the Netherlands. Once again, he chose a target with great values but little cash in hand. It takes no prize to guess that the idea was one of the first from CFO Trøim. He had extensive knowledge of Neddrill, a subsidiary of the shipping company Nedlloyd. Trøim's former boss, Torstein Hagen, had for many years tried to gain control of Nedlloyd. Neddrill had nine drilling rigs valued at over 2 billion, and Fredriksen would have become a major player in offshore overnight. But there too, another hunter came in from the sidelines, and Fredriksen was left spurned. He just had to swallow his pride."

"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."

"Suddenly, John Fredriksen was without both equity and loans, and with new builds worth nearly four billion kroner on the slipways. After working around the clock for 30 years, the soon-to-be 47-year-old John Fredriksen was on the brink of disaster. The entire shipping world would relish, especially the established shipping families in Norway who had never accepted the newcomer. The way back would be long, perhaps impossible."

"A quite unfazed John Fredriksen stood the same morning in his favorite salmon river in Western Norway and said to his fishing friends: – Last night I became half a billion poorer."

"For a quarter billion Swedish kronor, Fredriksen's company Hemen Holding already owned 28 percent of the Frontline shares when they bid for the rest. The paralyzed Swedish management realized their fate: – We see that John Fredriksen has been successful, and in that sense we are positive that he will engage, said Frontline's CEO Kjell Jonson to the press. So it should sound! Jonson was rewarded with continuing in the CEO position. It was worse with Frontline's chairman, Sven H. Salen. Just a month later, Fredriksen took his private jet to Stockholm to throw the old leader out of the board. Then he took over the chairman position himself and brought along Tor Olav Trøim to the board. Thus, 20 percent of the entire Swedish tanker fleet disappeared out of the country."

"The other big coup was a surprise package sold by the oil company Amoco. The oil giant had a subsidiary, Canadian Marine Drilling Ltd. (Canmar), in the Olympic city of Calgary. Now nearly ten years since the Olympic games, the city did not have the same pressure, and it was even longer since the oil boom marked the Canadian interior. Canmar was sitting with two drillships, a couple of drilling platforms, a handful of supply ships, and various other equipment. Normally, not many buyers want such a mixed bag, but the oil giant Amoco did not want the hassle of lengthy negotiations for one ship at a time. All or nothing, was the offer. And Fredriksen's rig broker, Stein H. Schie at Normarine Offshore, got the job. He played hard on Amoco's desire to get rid of the whole of Canmar and managed to get the price down to just over 100 million dollars. Then Schie did the job Amoco should have done: One by one, the assets were sold off. The supply ships and a dock brought in 50 million dollars. Thus, John Fredriksen had gotten back half of his money, and was left with the two drillships "Northern Explorer II" and "Northern Explorer III" for just 50 million dollars."

"f one is to explain John Fredriksen's success, one of the keys is the incredible ability the man has to shake off defeats and push on relentlessly. He himself believes he lost a billion kroner during the "liquidation sale" associated with the custody detainment in 1986. He slowly worked his way up again in Cyprus, only to face another debacle with the feverish contracting of tankers from South Korea in the early 90s. Another 1.5 billion kroner lost, according to the man himself. Few can lose a billion here and a billion there. For Fredriksen, it had become a habit, and the gambler Fredriksen wasn't easily intimidated. In the summer of 1996, he was more willing to take risks than ever before."

"this exact kind of luck that allowed John Fredriksen to repeatedly survive even the heavy troughs. His miracle was the purchase of four heavy cargo ships from the bankrupt shipowner Jan-Erik Dyvi in 1988. Dyvi missed the mark and was forced to sell the unfinished ships by the banks that financed him. Fredriksen forked out 40 million dollars, and the market turned around within just a few weeks. The cash flow from these ships saved Fredriksen through many tight spots, and by the mid-90s, the old ships were veritable gold mines. In three years, it was estimated that the ships earned 70 million dollars from operations, making them an exception to the rule that one does not become rich from shipping operations, but from buying and selling. But now the Dyvi ships had served their purpose, it was time for a sale. And in the summer of 1996, Fredriksen ended his heavy-lift adventure by selling the ships for an estimated 100 million dollars. All in all, he may have earned up to a billion kroner on the ships, but shipping has no place for sentimentality. It was time for new heavy lifts."

"For John Fredriksen, the "Sea Empress" was a turning point. He could have hidden behind straw companies, but he came forward as a serious and responsible shipowner. And he received praise from an international shipping community. "It was about time someone stood up and showed that the industry takes responsibility in such a situation," was stated at a shipowner conference in London later that year. "Once a crisis is a fact, there are only two people who can stand up and take responsibility towards the outside world: The shipowner himself and the person responsible for the operation of the ship. Their 'image' before and after the accident will determine whether the shipping company will still be in business.""

"With the purchase of Frontline, John Fredriksen moved from being a reclusive, traditional shipowner to becoming the largest owner of a large publicly-traded shipping company in the public eye."

"John Fredriksen bought his first Frontline shares in the open market and paid with money. No one can criticize that. But the operations that followed had all the hallmarks of being a business within a business: Through Frontline, the shipowner had a golden opportunity to sell ships to himself and let others pay for it. Sven H. Salen had barely left the door before John Fredriksen made his first gigantic deal with himself. Within a few weeks in August, six oil tankers were sold from Fredriksen privately to Frontline for 357 million dollars, about 2.2 billion kroner. The transaction was made by Frontline taking over the ships with 208 million dollars in debt and giving Fredriksen 44 million Frontline shares as part of the purchase. This brought his ownership up to 64 percent of the shipping company. Admittedly, the matter was processed in the board and at the general meeting, but in practice, no one could oppose him – least of all the employees in Stockholm who now depended on the shipowner’s mercy."

"The completely new thing in the mid-90s was that John Fredriksen, for the first time, had a heavyweight in finance as his right-hand man. Trøim had learned one more thing: The stock market is a wonderful instrument for selling off in pieces, yet still retaining control. The two drillships and the one production rig were perfectly suited for such a maneuver."

"Slowly but surely, the pieces began to fall into place. Now one could discern the contours of the ship owner John Fredriksen. At 40, he started on his own with chartered ships, which he struggled to keep in operation. Then he bought a couple of ships speculating that the price would rise. Now he was building out a large organization to operate the ships."

"In the winter of 2000, a new opportunity arose to acquire a shipping company in serious trouble, the Canadian company misleadingly named Golden Ocean. It had sailed from a golden sea to a sea of defaulted loans, and on January 14, 2000, they threw in the towel and asked the United States bankruptcy court in Delaware for protection from creditors. Thus, the wrecked shipping company was given 135 days to sort out its enormous debt. And as is usual in such situations, the bleeding victim immediately attracted the attention of the financial sharks. Fredriksen had been following Golden Ocean for a long time because he considered it a candidate for acquisition. Bergesen also followed the death struggle with interest, but what John Fredriksen didn't know was that the shipping management at Bergehus was loaded with billions, ready to buy the Frontline fleet at a bargain if the company went under. The danger was not yet over, according to Bergesen, and therefore, they chose to let Golden Ocean pass without making a bid. But John Fredriksen was not alone in setting his sights on Golden Ocean. Again, he faced competition from a small firm that specialized in buying debt to leverage such situations. This time it was little Bentley International. The first clash in the battle between Fredriksen and Bentley came in March 2000. Then, Fredriksen bought one-sixth of Golden Ocean's debt, amounting to just over three billion kroner. The price tag was only 40 million kroner, but the status as a creditor gave the Norwegian shipowner a say in the fate of Golden Ocean, which controlled 17 large tankers (VLCC) and a fleet of 11 modern bulk carriers. The battle for Golden Ocean was tailor-made for Tor Olav Trøim and Tom Jebsen. This was their home ground, unlike usual shipping deals where the two shipowners on each side are the main men. Because when Golden Ocean went to bankruptcy court, the owners lost their power. Now, it was a multi-headed troll of creditors and lenders on Wall Street who decided the fate of the shipping company. For Trøim, this meant a series of meetings with bankers in New York. The effort was crowned with success at the end of May, when Trøim managed to persuade the other creditors to approve a plan to save the shipping company. Frontline was willing to enter with 33 million dollars in cash – or Frontline shares for 48 million dollars – to take over. At the same time, Frontline bought the VLCC "Tina" for 74 million dollars from Golden Ocean, thus gaining steering speed through the heavy seas. As a financial maneuver, Golden Ocean was by the book. Frontline issued three million new shares, and placed them with new owners through Fearnley Fonds and Enskilda. This way, the shipping company brought in the 33 million dollars that the deal cost. Among the new major owners was Fidelity – the world's leading asset management company. It would be the beginning of an adventure for both parties and meant a breakthrough for Trøim's work to make shipping palatable to the financial environment in New York."

"The envelope contained a document that step by step accounted for how John Fredriksen could hide all traces of his fortune from British and Norwegian authorities. According to the document, the goal was to move back to Norway a few years later with plenty of "honest" millions, but most of the fortune hidden abroad. As stated in the document: "The objective is to establish a coherent pattern that makes it possible to continue financial and business-oriented activities, without resulting unreasonable tax burdens and related encumbrances.""

"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."

"In the winter of 1993, John Fredriksen saw a glimmer in the market, a glimmer that few others could perceive. A very large number of the world's 300 supertankers were approaching twenty years, a magical age limit for continued approval from major classification societies like Veritas and Lloyd’s. The limit could be stretched to 25 years, but not without significant investments in upgrades. Fredriksen believed that many dozens of ships would be scrapped the following year, improving the balance between supply and demand. Most shared this analysis, they just believed it would take longer to dispose of the oldest ships. Fredriksen himself had sold his old ships. Now, it was only new ones. But new ships don't get paid better than old ones; it's a curse the industry can't shake off. Quality means little to the owners of the oil cargo, as long as it arrives on time, no one cares."

"John Fredriksen rarely thinks long-term. Buy today, sell tomorrow, take the profit when it’s there. These years leading up to the 90s were perfect for such a mindset. With the best broker contacts and a knack for good deals, Fredriksen made millions of dollars each time a ship was bought and sold. He himself claimed to have earned 100 million dollars each year from such quick transactions during the period 1987–89. An incredible amount, which may be somewhat exaggerated. It requires about 25-30 purchases and sales during the year, and even Fredriksen must have had difficulties keeping up."

"At both places, John Fredriksen met the country's top brokers and bankers, but he did not show any signs of being impressed: – I am the biggest, the billionaire shouted triumphantly, before he waved over the waiter to their table, adding: – Wine for the peasants!"

"John Fredriksen was 47 years old. In the prime of life. His status was impressive. Billion-dollar values in business, enormous luxury in private life with three private planes, luxury villas at home and abroad, an extensive art collection, and a safe full of diamonds in Switzerland. Looking back, he could see the loose ends in his life; the lack of friends, a homeless life as a perpetual tax exile, and a court of nodding and bowing broker lackeys who picked up million crumbs from the billionaire's table. It could have been time to quit, to become a world-class salmon fisherman. But the path was already laid out, and all of John Fredriksen’s traits would become even more apparent with age. If there was a party, it went on to the last drop. John Fredriksen had just begun. And soon, he would become known to the general public as well."

"It is a strange industry that John Fredriksen has dedicated his life to. World's tanker owners are their own worst enemies, all fighting an intense battle against each other. The opponent fully exploits this. If there are nineteen oil cargoes to be shipped out of the Gulf, and twenty ships available, the price is pushed to the bottom. A collaboration between some of the shipowners would have turned the situation around and improved the income for everyone involved. Everyone knew that, but still, no one managed to establish such a collaboration. Speaking to Dagens Næringsliv at the time, John Fredriksen said, "the problem is that every single player in the market always wants to squeeze the last cent out of the market." (When Fredriksen many years later did manage to establish such a collaboration, it turned out that he too could not keep his fingers from the last cent.)"

"Anyone who after this could think of becoming a shipowner, can console themselves with the fact that it is easier than becoming a nuclear scientist. Perhaps it is easier than running a kiosk as well. Money is necessary to have, but not so much. Knowing something about financing is important, probably the most important. After a crash course in financing, one could try with a mix of ordinary mortgage debt, convertible loan, and shares at a premium, then the need for own money soon disappears. Finding a ship to buy is the easiest thing, they are traded daily. Shipbrokers will get the boat, they will keep calling you with offers. You will be invited to dinner over and over again. Ship inspectors inspect the ship to check that it is in proper condition based on the price and description (just don't choose the same ones who inspected the Latsis fleet for John Fredriksen back in 1996.) Then, one can outsource all operations to one of the many companies that specialize in this. V. Ships, Wallem, and Thome are three that are all good enough for Fredriksen. They take care of everything; they provide crew – (V. Ships alone has access to 22,000 sailors), they train them, pay them and replace them. They procure supplies, fuel, handle all formalities in ports, they have technical inspections and maintenance, they keep accounts and make reports. Whatever problem one can imagine; these companies deliver the solution. If financing turns out to be a tough nut to crack, V. Ships offers this too. Everything from writing prospectuses, making presentations, securing documentation, to meeting banks, investors, and others with money. Shipbrokers get the shipping company cargoes – unless you want V. Ships to handle that too – they will work hard for you, they are on commission, and a new shipowner without an established connection is valuable. Expect many dinners there too. As a shipowner, you get a picture to hang on the wall, that is probably as close to the ship as you will ever come. If you want to be a modern shipowner, it would be completely wrong to go on board. That is just for romantics."

"Frontline's status is proof of the long road John Fredriksen has traveled, from a desperate, paranoid fortune seeker who broke the oil blockade on South Africa, sent his ships and crews into the rocket fire in the Gulf and was rightly suspected of stealing oil from the cargo, to the world's largest, richest, and most respected shipowner. Many bitter experiences lie along the way."

"Trøim is unstoppable, John Fredriksen has given him the nickname D8, after the legendary Caterpillar bulldozer that came on the market around the time Fredriksen was born. Others have given him the nickname "Troiminator." One should not stand in the way of Tor Olav Trøim."

"The issue does not only concern Frontline, it is the same for all the companies in the Fredriksen group. Deals are constantly made where Fredriksen is actually dealing with himself; whether it's buying or selling, construction contracts, options, or freight agreements. And there are not always clear rules like in the case of Frontline. While Northern Offshore was listed on the stock market, John Fredriksen had other offshore interests privately. "Negotiations" to sell them to Northern Offshore did not succeed."

"Eventually, the brokers' suggestions also come outside of shipping; everyone knows that Big Wolf and Little Wolf are fast, non-bureaucratic, and liquid. And hungry. Sometimes this leads to surprising results, like the raid on Pan Fish. Admittedly, Fredriksen is an avid salmon fisher, but it's not obvious that he should dream of creating new structures in the salmon industry. However, Trøim insists that the investment in Pan Fish was their own idea, something they had thought about for a long time. Since Nordea held a controlling share (48 percent), they could approach Fredriksen's old friend in the bank, Calle Steen, and present the proposal. It undoubtedly helped the bank's decision-making that they made almost 800 million from the sale. The purchase in Pan Fish had an immediate Fredriksen effect throughout the industry. Share prices rose, and everyone became richer on paper. Fredriksen, who quickly had a paper profit of several hundred million kroner. Then followed a massive investment in Fjord Seafood of 25 percent, and new shakes in the industry. Everyone believes there will be a major merger between Pan, Fjord, and Cermaq, and if so, it would have been high odds that it was John Fredriksen who would force this. Everything Fredriksen has touched in recent years has yielded gains. Gradually, his fortune is spread across multiple industries and not as susceptible to extreme fluctuations. It is not certain he will be on the brink several more times."

"If one does not feel like a real shipowner after this, then it is worth considering Frontline's situation. As much as possible, Frontline aims to avoid owning ships; they have leased them at a fixed price for the remainder of the ship's lifespan. All operations are outsourced, but to many different management companies so that Frontline can compare them against each other. They closely monitor all subcontractors and have a scoring system to rate them. There are 36 employees in the Frontline organization, including accounting in Bermuda, far fewer than one employee per ship operated. They have technical expertise, people who can handle chartering, they compile the accounts for all the ships and are good at financing. But what is really the core competence of the world's largest tanker shipping company? The core is undoubtedly John Fredriksen. No one disputes his vast knowledge of shipping; he is said to know every supertanker that floats. He has worked his way up from the telex machine, and no one can match his knowledge. Perhaps even more important, however, are his personal qualities. He has an apparent contempt for risk, which means that the gains are even greater when things go right. Where others choose to secure a bit, Fredriksen goes full throttle. Historically, it has not been the operation of ships that has yielded the greatest profits, it has been buying and selling. He does not fall in love with the steel giants; sentimentality has no place. Everything can be sold and bought as long as the price seems right. It requires no large organization, just one man's instinct. Fredriksen has shown this so many times that it is no coincidence."

"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."

"But John Fredriksen had been out on a December evening before. He simply asked Tor Olav Trøim to secure a table for the party. Trøim made the rounds in the bar with a proposal. Those who were kind enough to leave could leave the bill. It would be taken care of. It took just a couple of minutes to clear space for the entire party, which certainly needed a refill of refreshments."

"The curious thing is that even financial people and old enemies can see a different Fredriksen than the tough slugger always portrayed. Øystein Stray Spetalen told one of the authors in the fall of 2005, albeit late at night, that "John Fredriksen is a kind man." And Kjell Skjevesland, an unyielding opponent, says: "John is good at heart, sure he is." Even competitors now feel it would be foolish to denigrate the world's most successful shipowner. From the venerable Bergehus, the headquarters of the Bergesen shipping company, they have always looked down on the upstart, waiting for his downfall. Instead, it was Bergesen that would disappear from the tanker industry, and the management in the shipping company now goes far to praise Fredriksen highly. The world has undoubtedly changed its view of John Fredriksen. Previously, he was ostracized from polite society, but his colossal success has erased all memories of prison and ugly suspicions. Today, John Fredriksen is a hero. 40 billion does something to people."

"For John Fredriksen, the tanker market will always be something special. That's what he knows best, there he is always king. And he sees big changes on the horizon. Fredriksen is convinced that the tanker industry will eventually be dominated by a few mega-constellations, just like in container traffic. This brings economies of scale, not least because it allows better fleet management. There are also financial benefits, with cheaper financing and greater interest from institutional investors because the shares become more liquid. Moreover, it brings closer Fredriksen's utopian dream of a shipping company so large that it not only has to accept the freight rates offered but can actively influence them. The tanker industry would become extremely profitable if all ships were controlled by the same shipping company."

"It was the legend John Fredriksen the market was buying. They sensed that things would move fast, Fredriksen had aimed to consolidate the industry, nothing less. And one would not be slowed down by formalities, the board of SeaDrill was fully recognizable. Moreover, one could expect that the money would go to the shareholders as soon as there was something to distribute, everyone had learned that lesson. Such things are particularly liked in the homeland of dividends, the USA. When Frontline announces a large dividend, it is a topic on the major TV channels across the country. In the USA, John Fredriksen is big, he is the only Norwegian who matters in international business. – Are you a friend of John? is the control question you get in finance. Then it’s important to know Big John. Even though the information in SeaDrill was sparse and the figures airy, it was absolutely rational to shift focus from oil tankers to rigs. A supertanker and a drilling rig cost almost the same to build, but the rig commands much higher daily rates, even adjusted for significantly higher costs. Therefore, Fredriksen ordered new rigs and drilling vessels at a furious pace in the summer and fall of 2005, and with each order came the option for more. In a short period, contracts worth 10 billion kroner were signed."

"They headed for the bar in the reception at Hotel Continental, where it was just as crowded. But John Fredriksen had been out on a December evening before. He simply asked Tor Olav Trøim to secure a table for the party. Trøim made the rounds in the bar with a proposal. Those who were kind enough to leave could leave the bill. It would be taken care of. It took just a couple of minutes to clear space for the entire party, which certainly needed a refill of refreshments."

"John Fredriksen would later look back on the first part of the 90s as unproductive and wasted years. It might have been different if not so much energy had been spent on making enemies of old friends and business associates. Johan Warpe was far from the only one."