Peter Wallenberg Sr, Chairman of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation since 1982, is stepping down from this position and will be succeeded on January 16, 2015 by Peter Wallenberg Jr, Vice Chairman since 2005. Peter Wallenberg Sr has been appointed Honorary Chairman by the board.
When Peter Wallenberg Sr became Chairman in 1982, the foundation’s assets amounted to approximately SEK 2 billion and grants for research and education in Sweden totaled SEK 62 million. Today, foundation assets total approximately SEK 85 billion and grants SEK 1.7 billion.
“I am pleased to see how the foundation has developed and how it plays an important part in promoting basic research in Sweden and for the country as a whole. It is the right time for me to hand over the chairmanship to Peter Jr and I am grateful that the fifth generation of our family is continuing the endeavors of our forefathers by working in the service of enterprise and by being involved in foundations to which substantial capital has been donated,” commented Peter Wallenberg Sr in a statement.
“As a member of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation board, appointed by the Principals Council*, I would like to commend Peter Wallenberg Sr for his invaluable and dedicated work to promote the foundation’s activities and growth. During his chairmanship, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation has developed into one of Europe’s largest private funders of research, and next to the Swedish government, it is the most important source of financing for research in Sweden. Under Peter Wallenberg Sr’s leadership, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation has made major contributions to benefit research in Sweden. I look forward to Vice Chairman Peter Wallenberg Jr taking over the important role of Chairman – he knows the foundation’s work extremely well,” says Kåre Bremer, former Dean of Stockholm University.
“It is very stimulating to be entrusted with the foundation’s chairmanship and to be given the primary responsibility for managing and developing the foundation’s activities. I am looking forward to leading the board’s work down our already established path, which is to focus on excellence in research and research projects that are absolutely world-class,” says Peter Wallenberg Jr, newly appointed Chairman of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
The Wallenberg foundations consist of 15 non-profit foundations that were established by members of the Wallenberg family through personal capital donations, or through fundraising initiatives to honor family members. In addition to his position as newly appointed Chairman of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Peter Wallenberg Jr is Chairman or Vice Chairman of most other Wallenberg foundations. Over the past five years, a total of SEK 8 billion has been granted by these foundations for research and education in Sweden, of which approximately SEK 2 billion in 2014.
Additional information about the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
Over the past few years, the foundation has funded a number of special initiatives, of which all aim to strengthen Sweden’s position as a world-class research nation. For example, SEK 2.5 billion in grants will be distributed for Europe’s largest private investment in young researchers – the Wallenberg Academy Fellows. This program supports some of the most promising researchers in Sweden and the world within the fields of medicine, the natural sciences, engineering, the humanities and the social sciences. It is designed to provide funding for up to 250 young researchers over a ten-year period.
Another example is the foundation’s focus on medical research for which SEK 1.8 billion in grants were approved last year for distribution over a ten-year period to provide funding for equipment, clinical researchers and career services at a number of universities and medical faculties in Sweden.
Yet another example is the foundation’s long-term funding of the MAX-Lab at Lund University in Sweden. The MAX Lab is a synchrotron light source facility that will be 100 times more efficient than present facilities. The laboratory can be described as a super microscope that reveals details about nature’s smallest building blocks. The foundation has donated more than SEK 600 million to this facility over the years.
The Wallenberg foundations’ administration and assets management
The Wallenberg foundations own FAM AB** and Wallenberg Foundations AB** to manage all foundation assets and administer their grants in the most efficient and professional manner possible. As of January 1, 2015, these companies have changed their activities as follows:
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Wallenberg Foundations AB: This company, jointly owned by all the Wallenberg foundations, manages the grant programs and administration of each Wallenberg foundation. The three largest foundations have delegated responsibility for the management and governance of their directly owned assets to an investment committee administered by Wallenberg Foundations AB. The holdings of the foundations include Investor, FAM and SAS.
- FAM AB: A private holding company, owned by the three largest Wallenberg foundations, which focuses on the management and development of its directly owned holdings. FAM manages its assets by acting as an active owner with a long-term ownership horizon for creating value and generating dividends that are distributed to the foundations to benefit their grant activities. FAM also evaluates new potential investments. FAM’s largest holdings at year-end 2014 were SKF, Stora Enso and Höganäs. FAM’s assets amounted to approximately SEK 36 billion at the close of 2014.
For more information and contact persons:
Peter Wallenberg Jr, +46 8 545 017 80
Oscar Stege Unger, oscar.stege.unger@wfab.se, +46 70 624 2059, +46 8 545 077 37
www.wfab.se (Wallenberg Foundations AB) and www.fam.se (FAM AB)
*The Principals Council of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation consists of 12 university deans and the permanent secretaries of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and the Swedish Academy. The Principals Council appoints the foundation’s auditors and one of its board members.
**FAM AB, formerly called Foundation Asset Management Sweden AB, is owned by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, and the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation. Wallenberg Foundations AB is the new name for Foundation Administration Management Sweden AB.