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Supermarket trio tops Norway billionaires list

The Local Norway
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Supermarket trio tops Norway billionaires list
Stein Erik Hagen. Photo: Orkla Group/Guri Dahl

Three supermarket moguls topped the list of Norway's richest people compiled by Forbes Magazine in 2014, after hotelier and real estate mogul Olav Thon put his fortune into trust and lost his billionaire status.

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Svein Erik Hagen was Norway's richest man, according to Forbes, having built up a $5bn fortune after making a series of successful investments since selling Rimi, the discount retailer he founded with his father, in 2004. He ranked 281st in the list of the world's richest men. 
 
Second and third in the list were supermarket moguls Odd Reitan, who owns the REMA 1000 supermarket chain, and Johan Johannson, who owns NorgesGruppen, another supermarket chain and who did not feature in last year's list, worth $3.8bn and $2.7bn respectively. 
 
A record nine Norwegian citizens qualified as billionaires in 2014, according to the magazine, with Johannson, shipping billionaire Jacob Stolt-Nielsen and hedge fund investor Alexander Vik all joining the list since 2013. 
 
Oil tanker baron John Fredriksen remains far and away the richest man of Norwegian origin, with a $13.6bn fortune. But he long ago became a citizen of Cyprus for tax reasons. 
 
Aker drilling owner Kjell Inge Rokke came in fourth with $2.5bn, followed by hedge fund mogul Andreas Halvorsen with $2.2bn, Royal Caribbean Cruises owner Arne Wilhemsen with $2bn, and Nordic Choice Hotels founder Petter Stordalen with $1.4bn. 
 
Shipping magnate Jacob Stolt-Nielsen came next with $1.15bn, followed by another hedge fund billionaire, Alexander Vik with $1bn. 
 
H&M owner Stefan Persson was the highest ranking Swede, with a  $34.4bn fortune which put him at number 12 worldwide. 
 
American IT mogul Bill Gates topped the list yet again with an estimated $76 billion to his name, a spot on the list he has enjoyed for 15 of the last 20 years. 
 
To see the full list click here

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