Petter Stordalen (NO) in conversation with Mette Østergaard

Stordalen is the author of the bestseller Thank God it's Monday!, and in June, the Apollo Method will be published in Danish. Now Stordalen is hosting a conversation in the Queen's Hall about creating, leading (in adversity too) and about why the Nordic model makes it much easier to achieve commercial success in the Nordic region than elsewhere in the world.

From strawberry seller to billionaire

Stordalen writes about being at the forefront of large projects, investments and dreams on the shoulders of the Nordic welfare states.

The story of the enterprising manager, businessman and billionaire starts with the story of 12-year-old Petter Stordalen, who is voted Norway's best strawberry seller. Whether the title is official or unofficial is irrelevant, because it is a testament to a person driven by the desire to create good business from childhood. The strawberry seller grew up and entered the hotel industry in 1996, and today Petter Stordalen is the owner and managing director of the investment company Strawberry Group with investments throughout the Nordics.

The Nordic dream! Not the American dream

Contrary to many other big businessmen, Petter Stordalen insists that the Nordic welfare states are the best framework for good and healthy companies and large fortunes. "The billionaires of my generation have simply reaped the fruit from the seeds that were sown when the welfare state began to be built after the war," writes Stordalen in Thank God it's Monday!.

According to Peter Stordalen, "the American dream" should be renamed "the Nordic dream". A strong state with free education, high wages and great social mobility makes it possible to create and benefit from the large pool of talent in the population. The welfare state gives us security. But it also provides personal freedom. He therefore believes that it is a great paradox when other liberal-minded colleagues perceive the state as limiting: "The tax is an investment in equal opportunities for everyone. Expensive labour forces contractors to think new things and be innovative. We just don't see it. Because it's the air we breathe."

Participants

Petter Stordalen

Petter Stordalen is one of the Nordic countries' most successful businessmen. In Denmark, he is best known as the owner of the hotel chain Nordic Choice Hotels. In 2019, he firmly entered the consciousness of the Danes, when he, together with two capital funds, bought the Danish travel agency Spies. In addition, he is behind the large hotel project Villa Copenhagen in the closed main post office in Copenhagen, which opened in 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis. Petter Stordalen has shared the strategies and rules of life behind his great success in the books Thank God it's Monday! (2020) and the Apollo Method (2022).

Mette Østergaard

Mette Østergaard is a trained journalist and has been editor-in-chief at Berlingske since 2018. Previously, she was political editor and editor-in-chief at Politiken, after which she became editor-in-chief and channel manager for TV 2 News.