The businessman has amassed billions of dollars in assets through his exploitation of the sea and is now seeking to repair the damage he caused.
Kjell Inge Rokke He is a controversial figure among maritime magnates. The richest man in Norway He made millions of dollars from exploiting the ocean’s resources, from trawling, commercial shipping and offshore drilling. The billionaire went on to want to clean up pollution in these waters but did not divest himself of his companies.
The businessman built the largest superyacht in the world with its 183 meters in length. This boat was not only designed for the purposes of rest and fun, but seeks to reverse the damage that the businessman caused to the planetHis ship, Rev, has eight laboratories and a remote-controlled submarine that can descend to depths of 5,000 kilometers. This cost him 350 million dollars and will be used to find oceanic garbage, evaluate the fauna and the acidity level of the water.
The story of Kjell Inge Rokke, Norway’s biggest billionaire
The billionaire’s upbringing was complicated. He grew up in a low-income family, where his father was a carpenter and his mother worked as a saleswoman of electrical appliances. In addition, Rokke dropped out of school in the 9th grade due to his dyslexia. The businessman recalls that time by narrating: “The teacher told me in front of the class: the day you get a driver’s license, you should consider it a success.”
The Norwegian began working at an early age as a sailor on a fishing boat. This vessel spent 10 months at sea every year. At the age of 21, he moved to the United States to work on a trawler in the city of Seattle. There, he had an existential crisis because he had no plans for the future. He recalled: “I wanted independence, to live my own life, and I thought I could do that if I became rich, but I was terribly wrong.”
To do this, he saved aggressively and distanced himself from any kind of pleasure or recreational outings. Rokke had arrived in the North American country in 1980 and, by leading this lifestyle, in just two years he managed to raise $75,000.. He invested these in the down payment for his own 21-meter trawler, although his venture got off to a rocky start because his boat caught fire after a few years.
His skills and persistence in negotiations allowed him to start over and formed a small fleet of vessels in 1987 under the name American SeafoodsTheir business began to gain some relevance in the market and they stood out for harvesting pollock from the coast of Alaska.
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Forbes
Their projects began to be funded by the Norwegian government and Their boats reached the point of catching between 600,000 to 800,000 fish per day, which produced approximately 18 million dollars in annual sales.which today would be 45 million. Their best quality catches were filleted and sold, while the others were processed into flour and oil.
Environmentalist Kevin M. Bailey explains in his book Billion-Dollar Fish the importance of the Norwegian company in the world market by arguing that “Rokke’s company controlled 40% of the American pollock harvest.” He added: “He was involved in companies from Russia to Argentina that were accused of overfishing.”
The purposes of the The 1990s were a time of diversification for Rokke CapitalThe businessman invested in Norway as the country was recovering from an economic crisis, adding a clothing company, a sporting goods chain and major real estate acquisitions. He also bought Aker, one of Norway’s largest shipbuilding and offshore drilling conglomerates, which brings in $9.4 billion in revenue a year.
How much is Kjell Inge Rokke’s fortune, according to Forbes
The controversial billionaire claims that he is part of the ecological problem and that he seeks to repair part of all the damage he caused. Kjell Igne Rokke managed to amass a fortune of 4.6 billion dollars thanks to seafoodaccording to Forbes magazine.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
