Björn Svedberg
 Björn Svedberg    (businessman, engineer, deep state operative?) | ||||||||||||
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| Born | 4 July 1937 | |||||||||||
| Nationality | Swedish | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | KTH Royal Institute of Technology | |||||||||||
| Member of | Wallenberg Sphere | |||||||||||
Swedish company director and part of the Wallenberg Sphere
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Björn Svedberg Swedish company director and part of the Wallenberg Sphere. Svedberg was CEO of Ericsson from 1977 to 1990 and CEO of S-E-Banken from 1992 to 1997. He attended the 1982 and 1997 Bilderberg meetings.
Ericsson
Svedberg was hired by Ericsson immediately after receiving his M. Sc.from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in 1962.
Svedberg participated in the development of the AXE digital telephone exchanges system manufactured by Ericsson.
On 1 July 1977, Svedberg was appointed president and CEO of Ericsson.
In the early 1980s, Ericsson's management decided to invest in computers, terminals and entire information systems for offices under the name Ericsson Information Systems. This venture came to cost the company several billion. The products were not sufficiently well developed and the acquisitions of Datasaab and Facit turned out to have been hasty. From 1985 to 1988, Ericsson underwent a major reorganization, when the workforce was greatly reduced and large parts of the company were sold. Ericsson Information Systems was sold to Nokia.
Svedberg later said that when the crisis in Ericsson was over, he told Chairman Hans Werthén that"this was an absolutely incredible management training". Werthén replied " Yes, but expensive. Don't do it again!". The company subsequently returned to concentrating on the development and sales of the AXE systems and by 1989 Ericsson's crisis had turned to success under Svedberg's leadership. The ever tougher investment in mobile telephony was now also beginning to pay off.
Svedberg resigned as CEO in 1990 and then was chairman of the board from 1990 to 1998.
Banking
After the then S-E Bank, owned by the Wallenberg family, reported credit losses of SEK 2.5 billion in the first four months of 1992, Bo Ramfors left his position as president and CEO. Surprisingly, lacking banking experience, Svedberg assumed the position of new president and CEO in August 1992.[1]
On 18 February 1993, it was announced that the bank's credit losses in 1992 amounted to SEK 10.9 billion and that the operating loss was SEK 5.3 billion. Stock dividends were cancelled and the bank formally applied for state aid. On 17 August 1993, Svedberg signed a letter to the Bank Aid Board withdrawing the bank's application for state aid[2].
When Svedberg left office in april 1997, he announced that he did not intend to continue with banking but to devote himself to industrial activities. Svedberg was succeeded by Jacob Wallenberg[3].
Other board positions
Svedberg has been a board member of ABB, STORA, Volvo and Investor AB, among others. Since 1979 he is a member of the Academy of Engineering Sciences.
Events Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1982 | 14 May 1982 | 16 May 1982 | Norway Sandefjord | The 30th Bilderberg, held in Norway. |
| Bilderberg/1997 | 12 June 1997 | 15 June 1997 | US Lake Lanier Georgia (State) | The 45th Bilderberg meeting |
