Publicly listed Swedish holding company controlled, through various foundations, by the Wallenberg family. Headquartered at Arsenalsgatan 8C in central Stockholm. The Wallenberg foundations own 23% of Investor AB but control a little over half its voting rights. The family controls 35% of the value of the Swedish stock exchange.
Investor AB holds sizeable stakes in many of Sweden's largest businesses, including Atlas Copco (manufacturing), Saab (defence), Electrolux (home appliances) and Ericsson (telecoms). It was founded in 1916 in response to a new law that made it difficult for banks to hold shares in other companies. The Wallenbergs' position at the apex of Swedish business came about largely because of an economic crisis in 1877, when several big companies that had borrowed from SEB, the family bank, defaulted; SEB took equity rather than see them go under.
The family motto is Esse, non videri (to be, not to be seen). André Oscar Wallenberg, the dynasty's founder, established SEB in 1856. The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW), the first and largest of 16 foundations set up by the family, was founded in 1917 by Knut, a son of André Oscar, and his wife Alice, who had no children. The foundations helped shield the family's wealth from inheritance duties (though Sweden scrapped those in the early 2000s) and continue to enjoy tax benefits. Last year the foundations gave away $300m for research and education, making them the biggest donor to Europe's universities after Britain's Wellcome Trust.
The family is currently led by three members of its fifth generation: Jacob, chairman of Investor AB; his brother Peter; and his cousin Marcus, who chairs SEB. All three are in their mid-to-late 60s. The transition to the sixth generation began in spring 2025, when six of the 30 members of the new generation joined the Wallenbergsfären (Wallenberg sphere). Among them are Jacob junior (board of EQT, a private-equity fund co-founded by Investor AB), Fred (Marcus's son, board of Investor AB), and Stéphanie Gandet (board of KAW)—the first women to be part of the succession process. The family introduced a charter laying out its values and goals around 2018. The trio meets three of the 30 sixth-generation members every six weeks, in rotation.
Past successions have not always gone smoothly. Marcus's grandfather wanted his son Marc to be the next leader, but Marc took his own life; it is said that he succumbed to the pressure of being the anointed heir. The tragedy gave the current generation insights in managing succession.
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