John Fredriksen
John Fredriksen is a Norwegian-born Cypriot oil tanker and shipping billionaire businessman based in the United Arab Emirates. He owns the world's largest oil tanker fleet through his flagship company Frontline plc, and has major interests in the offshore drilling contractor Seadrill, the fish farming company Mowi, and the dry bulk shipping company Golden Ocean Group.
Through his investment companies Hemen Holdings and Geveran Trading, Fredriksen controls a global maritime empire encompassing oil tankers, dry bulk carriers, liquefied natural gas vessels, and offshore drilling rigs. Born in Eidsvoll, Norway, Fredriksen is now a naturalised Cypriot citizen. Before renouncing his Norwegian citizenship in 2006, he was Norway's richest man. As of 2025, Forbes estimates his net worth at US$17 billion, making him one of the wealthiest individuals globally.
In 2012, he was included in the 50 Most Influential list of Bloomberg Markets Magazine, and in 2014, Lloyd's List named him among the top 10 most influential people in the global shipping industry.
Early life
Fredriksen was born on 11 May 1944 in Eidsvoll, Norway. His father, Gunnar Fredriksen, was a welder at NSB, and his mother, Herdis Johanne Ørbæk, was a canteen manager. He came to Oslo at age three and grew up in Vålerenga, a working-class district in eastern Oslo.In 1961, Fredriksen began his shipping career as a messenger at the shipbroker firm Blehr & Tenvig in Oslo. He studied for his commercial diploma at evening school while working. After gaining experience abroad, he became a tank broker at A.O. Andersen in Oslo in 1966, then rose to deputy chief and later chief of the traditional shipping firm Wallem & Co. in Singapore in 1968. When British interests acquired Wallem in autumn 1969, Fredriksen returned to Oslo as a tank broker at Anco Tanker Service, where he was regarded as a promising and capable broker with a talent for quick decisions.
Career
Early career and oil trading (1960s–1970s)
During his overseas postings, Fredriksen made important contacts. In Singapore, he met shipowner Jan Petter Røed, who taught him that money could also be made operating older tonnage. In autumn 1971, Fredriksen established his first Liberia-registered company, Northern Tankers Inc., followed by Ocean Tanker Co. Inc. in 1974.In 1973, after the Anco partnership dissolved, Fredriksen became head of the tank department at Joachim Grieg & Co.'s Oslo office. That summer, he experienced one of history's strongest upswings in tanker shipping, though the oil crisis that October led to a severe and prolonged freight collapse. He acquired long-term tanker charter contracts during the Yom Kippur War and made US$40 million when prices rebounded five years later.
In spring 1975, Fredriksen established the shipbroker firm Northern Shipping AS, which had a lucrative partnership with Arab interests who provided large quantities of oil for transport. In 1978, he emigrated from Norway to London. His partners were bought out and Northern Shipping's operations were taken over by the newly established Lancaster Maritime Ltd. in London, owned by his Liberia company Northern Tankers Inc.
Iran–Iraq War and fortune building (1980s)
In 1981, Fredriksen acquired two chemical tankers and a large oil tanker, marking the true start of his shipowning career. The freight collapse that same year made profitable operation difficult, and Fredriksen targeted markets that were risky both militarily and politically—including oil transport to the politically isolated apartheid regime in South Africa.In 1982, Fredriksen established Marine Management AS in Oslo to operate ships for foreign owners—essentially for himself and his partners. He exploited the high freight rates in the Persian Gulf created by the Iran–Iraq War. Iran financed its weapons purchases through oil exports and paid well to have the oil transported out of the war zone. Fredriksen deployed three supertankers in shuttle traffic from the Iranian oil port of Kharg Island.
To minimise fuel costs, his ships used unconventional methods: on ships carrying diesel, simple methods reduced recorded cargo intake, with the unrecorded surplus pumped into fuel tanks; on ships with crude oil cargo, the thick residual waste was pumped up and mixed with bunker fuel instead of being discharged at sea. The explosive gases in crude oil made this mixture dangerous, but it saved the company millions.
The Kharg traffic was hazardous—in autumn 1985, a rocket attack on one of the ships killed two and injured two; in February 1986, two more were killed and three wounded. In total, nine Fredriksen ships were hit by rockets. As described by his biographers Odd Harald Hauge and Gunnar Stavrum in Storeulv, "he was the lifeline to the Ayatollah." His regular table at Oslo's fashionable Theatercaféen restaurant was nicknamed "Kharg Island" in reference to his controversial but lucrative business.
Frontline and tanker dominance (1996–present)
In 1996, Hemen Holding Limited, a company indirectly controlled by trusts established by Fredriksen for the benefit of his immediate family, became the majority shareholder in Frontline AB, a Swedish shipping company founded in 1985. Frontline AB was subsequently re-domiciled from Sweden to Bermuda and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in May 1997.Through a series of acquisitions and purchases of new and secondhand tankers, Frontline became the world's largest tanker company. Fredriksen reportedly considered quitting the tanker business in 1996 after his ship, Sea Empress, spilled 50,000 tonnes of oil off the coast of Wales. Instead, he increased his investment, buying double-hulled vessels that are more resistant to spills. Today, his fleet is dominated by costly double-hulled, environmentally safer tankers.
In August 2001, Frontline shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company delivered strong shareholder returns during the tanker boom years of the late 1990s and mid-2000s, supported by high freight rates and large dividend distributions to investors.
However, the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent oversupply of vessels led to a severe downturn in the tanker market. Day rates for leasing tankers slumped 47% from 2010, with charter rates sinking to $7,254 per day in September 2011 from their 2007 highs. Frontline lost US$530 million on US$810 million in revenue in 2011.
In December 2011, Fredriksen rescued his flagship tanker company by splitting it in two, transferring 11 of Frontline's best ships and US$666 million in debt into a new firm, Frontline 2012 Ltd., backed by a US$505 million guarantee from Hemen Holding. In 2015, the two companies merged back together, with Frontline 2012 becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Frontline. As of 2025, Fredriksen holds approximately a 36% stake in Frontline through Hemen Holding.
Seadrill and offshore drilling (2005–present)
Anticipating a surge in deepwater exploration during the mid-2000s oil boom, Fredriksen founded Seadrill Limited on 10 May 2005 with an initial US$200 million equity investment. The company was incorporated in Bermuda and shares began trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 22 November 2005.In September 2006, Seadrill acquired a controlling share of Smedvig ASA, a Norwegian drilling firm, for approximately US$2.7 billion by outbidding Noble Corporation. This acquisition, Fredriksen's largest deal ever, added premium jack-up rigs and semi-submersibles to Seadrill's portfolio.
The 2014–2016 oil price collapse severely impacted Seadrill, and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2017. Fredriksen led efforts to restructure the company, which emerged from bankruptcy in July 2018 with over US$1 billion in new capital. Fredriksen retained approximately 30% ownership after supporting the process. In November 2019, Fredriksen stepped down as chairman of Seadrill but maintained his significant shareholding and involvement.
Mowi and aquaculture (2005–present)
Fredriksen's first major move into the aquaculture industry came in the second quarter of 2005, when Domstein's 24% stake in Fjord Seafood was sold to his investment vehicle Geveran Trading. Around the same time, Pan Fish announced that two companies indirectly controlled by Fredriksen had acquired a combined 48% of the company's outstanding shares.In March 2006, Geveran Trading purchased Marine Harvest from its joint owners for €881 million, before immediately transferring ownership to Pan Fish. By the end of 2006, the Marine Harvest group was brought under the control of Pan Fish, creating the world's largest salmon farming company. The merged entity was renamed Marine Harvest and later, in 2019, rebranded as Mowi.
Mowi controls approximately 25–30% of the global salmon and trout market, making it the world's largest company in the sector. As of 2025, Fredriksen holds approximately 15% of Mowi through Geveran Trading, making it one of his most valuable holdings. His daughter Cecilie serves on Mowi's board of directors.
Golden Ocean and other interests
was spun off from Frontline in December 2004 and subsequently listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company became one of the world's leading dry bulk shipping companies, operating a fleet of primarily Capesize and Panamax vessels for transporting commodities such as iron ore, coal, and grain.In March 2025, Fredriksen sold his approximately 40.8% stake in Golden Ocean to CMB.TECH for approximately US$1.18 billion, marking his exit from the dry bulk shipping sector.
Through his various holding companies, Fredriksen has also maintained interests in Flex LNG, Avance Gas Holding, and SFL Corporation.
Arcadia Petroleum and oil trading
Fredriksen acquired Arcadia Petroleum, a global oil trading firm, from Japan's Mitsui & Co Ltd in 2006 through his Farahead Holdings. The company became a significant player in crude oil trading, particularly in West African markets.In 2011, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a civil suit against Arcadia, its US affiliate Parnon Energy, and two traders, alleging market manipulation in 2008 that resulted in approximately US$50 million in gains. Fredriksen dismissed the allegations as "rubbish". The case was settled in 2014 for US$13 million, with no admission of wrongdoing, and the company agreed to limits on physical crude trading at Cushing, Oklahoma.
In February 2015, Arcadia sued its former CEO Peter Bosworth and CFO Colin Hurley for alleged fraud amounting to US$287 million. After a decade-long legal battle, a UK Commercial Court judge dismissed all claims in January 2025, ruling that Bosworth and Hurley had acted honestly and in what they reasonably believed to be the company's best interests. The company was renamed Alta Trading and wound down operations in 2022.