Percy Barnevik, a towering figure in Swedish business, has died at the age of 84. Known for his leadership at ABB and Investor, Barnevik was a transformative force in the corporate world. Despite controversies, including a massive pension scandal, he later dedicated his efforts to philanthropy. His legacy in the business community remains significant.
Percy Barnevik Passes Away: A Titan of Swedish Industry
Percy Barnevik Passes Away: A Titan of Swedish Industry
He was one of the brightest stars in the business world and has passed away. Percy Barnevik was 84 years old.
"It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Percy Barnevik. Percy leaves a significant void behind. Our father meant a lot to us in the family, and we will always remember him with warmth," his children wrote in an email to TT.
He was the bearded director, unusual among the top executives at the time. Through interviews, he became known as the business leader who only needed a few hours of sleep—a highly efficient leader with a firm hand and high demands on his surroundings.
This took him to perhaps the finest and most powerful position in Swedish business, as chairman of the Wallenberg family's power company, Investor.
But it started much earlier. Growing up in Uddevalla, he eventually found himself in the leadership at Sandvik and later as CEO of the then Asea, a company that under his leadership in the late 1980s merged with Swiss Brown Boveri to form the industrial giant ABB, then the world's largest cross-border corporate merger.
A Major Business Profile
During the 1990s, Percy Barnevik was on everyone's lips in the Swedish business world, and his career was at its peak.
When ABB faced gigantic lawsuits related to asbestos, financial strains began to show. Percy Barnevik, who had moved on to the chairman position at ABB, was revealed in 2002 to have a pension agreement with ABB that granted him an astronomical 800-900 million SEK—money he partially (570 million) repaid after some media turmoil, which also cost him his job at Investor.
In later years, he dedicated both money and time to charity through the organization Hand in Hand, which works with caste-less women in countries like India to start their own businesses. He also wrote books—both on leadership and an autobiography released in 2011 titled "I Want to Change the World." The book described, among other things, the saga of his massive pension and the betrayal by Peter Wallenberg, who was the one to dismiss Barnevik from his role as the head of the Wallenberg family.
In recent years, Barnevik was registered at one of his sons' homes in Bromma outside Stockholm.
Percy Barnevik died from a stroke. He was 84 years old. The funeral will take place among close family members.