Ivar Kreuger (March 2, 1880 – March 12, 1932) was a Swedish financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. In the time between the two world wars, he was one of the most powerful businessmen in Europe. He gained a match monopoly across Europe by legislative acts of European governments. He subsequently became known as the "Match King". Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOVD Articles that have been linked to this page are the subject of an NPOV dispute (NPOV stands for Neutral Point Of View; see below). ... is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Household safety matches burning match A match is a simple and convenient means of producing fire under controlled circumstances and on demand. ... This article is about the economic term. ...

Ivar Kreuger

Paul Toll (standing), left Henrik Kreüger and Ivar Kreuger during an inspection of an overpass in Solna 1908, one of the first orders for the company Kreuger & Toll.

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History

Kreuger was born in Kalmar, the eldest son of the banker, industrialist and Russian consul Ernst August Kreuger and his wife Jenny. The family Kreuger owned several match companies in the Kalmar area. In school, Ivar skipped ahead two classes by taking private lessons, to graduate at age 16, continuing his studies at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm where he graduated with two Master's degrees from the faculties of mechanical and civil engineering, at the age of 20. Kalmar is a city in Småland in south east Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. ... This article is about the Roman rank. ... The Royal Institute of Technology or Kungliga tekniska högskolan (KTH) is a university in Stockholm, Sweden. ... For other uses, see Stockholm (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The early years in America

After the turn of the century he spent seven years travelling and working abroad as an engineer in the U.S., Mexico, South Africa and other countries but spent most of the time in the US. At an early stage he came in contact with the patented Julius Kahn^[1] system for conrcete-steel constructions that was exploited by the company Trussed Concrete Steel Co. This new technique had not been introduced in Sweden at that time. He managed to get the representative rights for the system for both the Swedish and the German markets and in 1907 he returned to Sweden with the goal to introduce the new methods on a large scale in both countries at the same time.

The building contractor

In 1908, he formed the construction firm Kreuger & Toll in Sweden with engineer Paul Toll, at that time working for the company Kasper Höglund AB, and his cousin Henrik Kreüger as a consulting engineer. In Germany he formed the company Deutsche Kahneisengesellschaft (eng. German Kahn-steel company) together with a colleague from the time in Amerika, Anders Jordahl. The firm in Sweden and the new way of constructing buildings soon became a success and they won prestigious contracts such as the construction of the Stockholm Stadium and the department store Nordiska Kompaniet in Stockholm. Year 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... AB Kreuger & Toll was a company founded by the two Swedish engineers, Ivar Kreuger and Paul Toll. ... Stockholms Olympiastadion, most often called Stockholms Stadion, is a stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. ... Nordiska Kompaniet, colloquially NK, and literally The Nordic Company is the name of two department stores located in Stockholm and Gothenburg, in Sweden. ...

After some years Ivar Kreuger became more focused on “constructing” companies, rather than constructing buildings and bridges and as a result of that the company Kreuger & Toll in 1917 was split up in a subsidiary company, AB Kreuger & Toll Contruction Co. with Paul Toll as the managing director and Kreuger & Toll as a holding company with Ivar Kreuger as the manager.

The company designer

The family Kreuger owned match factories in and around Kalmar and came into financial problems in 1912. He was recommended to found a stock corporation of the factories. This was the starting point for the reformation of the entire swedish match industry. With the Kreuger family match factories as the basis he first founded AB Kalmar-Mönsterås Tändsticksfabrik in 1912. A merge between this company with a lot of other small match companies in Sweden, the company AB Svenska Förenade Tändsticksfabriker (eng. Swedish united match companies) was founded in 1913 and later by merging with the largest match company in Sweden at that time, AB Jönköping-Vulcan, Svenska Tändsticks AB (Swedish Match) was founded in 1917. This company group now covered the entire match industry in Sweden, including all major companies in Sweden that manufactured the machines that was used in the factories and had control over major companies supplying the raw material for the match industry. By expanding this company through acquisition of government-created monopolies the Swedish company became the world's largest match manufacturer. He set up an affiliate to Kreuger & Toll in the United States and formed the International Match Corporation which eventually came to control two thirds of the world production in matches. Kalmar is a city in SmÃ¥land in south east Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. ... Snus, a tobacco product marketed by Swedish Match. ... For other uses, see Match (disambiguation). ...

In the years when Europe was suffering from the problems of the Great Depression, Kreuger's companies would often give loans to European governments needing money, and as a security the government would grant his empire the match monopoly in this country. In 1929 Kreuger loaned equal to $28 million to Romania. In return, he gained a monopoly in match sales. This debt remained unpaid to 2002. For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ...

Kreuger did not limit himself to mere matches but gained control of most of the forestry industry in northern Sweden and planned to became a head of a cellulose cartel. A decidous beech forest in Slovenia. ... Cellulose as polymer of β-D-glucose Cellulose in 3D Cellulose (C6H10O5)n is a polysaccharide of beta-glucose. ... For the American pop-punk band, see Cartel (band). ...

After founding the pulp manufacturer SCA in 1929 Kreuger were able to acquire the majority shares in the telephone company Ericsson, the mining company Boliden, and major interests in the ball bearing manufacturer SKF, the bank Skandinaviska Kreditaktiebolaget as well as others. Abroad he acquired Deutsche Unionsbank in Germany and Union de Banques à Paris in France and by 1931 an estimated 200 companies were controlled by Kreuger. However the Stock Market Crash of 1929 turned out to be a major factor in the liquidity crisis that would be fatal to both Kreuger and his empire. Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA, is a Swedish pulp and paper manufacturer and consumer goods company. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ericsson () NASDAQ: ERIC. Founded in 1876, Ericsson is a leading provider of communications networks, related services and handset technology platforms. ... Boliden is a small community within SkellefteÃ¥ Municipality in Sweden. ... SKF, Svenska Kullagerfabriken AB, later AB SKF, is a Swedish bearing company founded in 1907, supplying bearings, seals, lubrication and lubrication systems, maintenance products, mechatronics products, power transmission products, customer solutions and related services globally. ... Skandinaviska Banken, literally the Scandinavian Bank, was a Swedish bank founded in Gothenburg, 1864. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 1929 stock market crash devastated economies worldwide The Wall Street Crash refers to the stock market crash that occurred on October 29, 1929, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, leading eventually to the Great Depression. ...

In springtime 1930 he visited America and held a lecture about the situation in the world economics at the Industrial Club of Chicago. He was invited to president J. Egdar Hoover in the white house to discuss the subject and in june he was awarded the title Dr. of Business Administration at the university in Syracuse (NY-state) where he worked as a young chief engineer when a stadium was build at the university in 1907. Hoover in 1961 John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from May 10, 1924, until his death in 1972, having been appointed to that position for life by President John Calvin Coolidge. ...

At the peak of his career the Kreuger fortune was estimated at a value of 30 billion Swedish kronor in 1929, equivalent to approximately 100 billion USD in 2000. In the same year the total loans made by Swedish banks were barely 4 billion SEK. ISO 4217 Code SEK User(s) Sweden Inflation 2. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

Kreuger Crash

By 1932, rumours spread that Kreuger & Toll and other companies in Kreuger's empire were financially unstable. Kreuger & Toll Securities had been very desirable in Wall Street. When the company went bankrupt in 1932, the claimed assets of $250 million turned out to be nonexistent. Elaborate marble facade of NYSE as seen from the intersection of Broad and Wall Streets For other uses, see Wall Street (disambiguation). ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration—see text) in the United Kingdom. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On March 12, 1932, Ivar Kreuger was found dead in bed in his Paris apartment. Evidence suggested that he shot himself rather than face his creditors. Later conspiracy theories claimed that Kreuger's wounds had not been self-inflicted. In any case, his death precipitated the Kreuger Crash which hit both investors and the group companies. is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Conspiracy theory (disambiguation). ...

Prior to the crash, Kreuger had issued thousands of debentures. These were very popular, and a firm public belief in the rising Kreuger empire convinced contemporary Swedes to invest in these "Kreuger papers". Following the Kreuger crash, the debentures became worthless, and several thousand Swedes lost their life savings as a result. In finance, a debenture is a long-term debt instrument used by governments and large companies to obtain funds. ...

Kreuger is interred in the Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. Norra begravningsplatsen Norra begravningsplatsen, translated as the Northern Burial Place but often referred to as the Northern Cemetery, is a major cemetery of Stockholm, Sweden in the area of the city known as Solna. ...

Fictional depictions

• Ivar Kreuger was also the inspiration for the character of Paul Kroll in the 1932 Hollywood film The Match King directed by William Keighley, starring Warren William and Lili Damita
• Ivar Kreuger was the inspiration for "Bjorn Faulkner", a character in Ayn Rand's 1935 hit Broadway play, Night of January 16th.^[2]
• Ivar Kreuger also inspired the character of Erik Krogh in Graham Greene's novel, England Made Me (1935)

Ivar Kreuger (March 2, 1880 - March 12, 1932) was a Swedish financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. ... Warren William (2 December 1894 - 24 September 1948) was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota. ... Lili Damita Lili Damita (July 10, 1904 – March 21, 1994) was a French actress. ... Ayn Rand (IPA: , February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (Russian: ), was a Russian-born American novelist and philosopher,[1] known for creating a philosophy she named Objectivism and for writing the novels We the Living, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged and the... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... Night of January 16 was a play written by Ayn Rand, inspired by the death of the Match King, Ivar Kreuger. ... This article is about the writer. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...

Trivia

Is alleged to have invented Three on a Match (superstition) in order to get people to use more matches. Three on a match (also known as third on a match) is a supposed superstition among soldiers during World War I. The superstition goes that if three soldiers lit their cigarettes from the same match, one of the three would be killed or that the man who was third on...

References

• Torsten Kreuger: Die Wahrheit über Ivar Kreuger, West Berlin: Ullstein Verlag, 1968.
• Lars-Erik Thunholm: Ivar Kreuger. Published by T. Fischer & Co., Stockholm 1995. (Swedish language). ISBN 91 7054 757 2
• Lars-Erik Thunholm: Oscar Rydbeck och hans tid. Published by T. Fischer & Co., Stockholm 1991. (Swedish language). ISBN 91 7054 659 2
• Magnus Toll: Paul Toll 1882-1946, ingeniör-entreprenör. 1996. Private book. (Swedish language)

External links

• Ivar Kreuger - Bibliography at Project Runeberg
• Ivar Kreuger - A television mini series (in Swedish)
• Ivar Kreuger - at www.ivarkreuger.com
• Ivar Kreuger's Gravesite