Kjell Inge Røkke ready for energy conference – E24

When the 27th energy conference under the auspices of Pareto Securities begins in Oslo on Wednesday, the brokerage secured a presentation with pondus.

Aker’s Chief Owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kjell Inge Røkke, and Chief Executive Officer Øyvind Eriksen are this year’s keynote speakers, ‘and will take the podium right after Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

It has not been announced what the Aker duo will talk about, but the themes are not lacking.

Falling oil prices and falling prices for the oil company Aker BP, the recently announced merger between Kvaerner and Aker Solutions, as well as the new investment in renewable energy with Aker Horizons, to name a few.

Røkke and Eriksen will be on the podium while Aker and the world are changing.

As the majority owner of Aker, Røkke rules a business empire with a total turnover of NOK 83 billion and employed 37,000 employees in 2019.

However, tomorrow’s session at the Pareto facility at gate 3 of the Dronning Mauds will be one of the few public appearances of the Moldanser, recently valued by Kapital magazine at NOK 26 billion, in recent years.

– Kjell Inge Røkke has obviously chosen a more isolated style in recent years, and it has been interesting to watch. She finally got some scratches on the paint, and Sylvia Brustad’s insult probably hasn’t been forgotten yet. But I think he has learned to calm his temper and become a more restrained businessman, says Ole Christian Apeland, CEO of the Apeland communications agency and an expert in reputation building.

– He probably doesn’t like being in the front so much. Now he seems more like a solid, energetic owner taking a back seat, and that’s probably how he wants it, Apeland says.

– Many are fascinated

Although Røkke has kept a very low profile in public in recent years, he has occasionally engaged in a dialogue with a few select and loyal investors in the Aker system, based on E24’s experience.

This has happened through an annual dialogue and in relation to transactions, whether the companies are listed on the stock exchange or raised capital in the market.

Each year, he also represents Norway’s most talked about shareholder letter, in Aker’s annual report, where he offers various personal and colorful insights into Aker’s development.

One of the rare interviews Røkke has given in recent times was at Aftenposten in 2017, when he stood in line to talk about the legacy he leaves, the investment in Rev Ocean and the research ship the company will build.

Apeland believes that Røkke has taken several impressive steps to strengthen his and Aker’s reputation in recent years, including private donations to his new home municipality, Asker, in the form of ball buckets and a new artificial grass pitch.

– A few years ago we did a survey of Norway’s most admired business leaders, and Røkke was high on the list. He’s a kind of Askeladden, the fisherman who built and succeeded, says Apeland.

– Although it has a controversial history, with diverse crimes and conflicts, there are probably many who are still fascinated by it. We don’t have many business leaders in Norway who are so well known to the man on the street, he is probably only comparable to Petter Stordalen and Bjørn Kjos.

Aker rises in reputation index

Apeland conducts an annual reputation survey of Norwegian companies. In 2020, Aker received a reputation score of 75, on par with Hydro and Telia and ahead of Telenor and DNB.

Aker’s reputation score in the survey has risen steadily in recent years, from 70 in 2010 to 65 in 2006.

– Aker definitely has a good reputation in Norway and is a well-known company, says Apeland.

– Does the owner of a large company in Norway have an additional responsibility to be visible and participate in the public debate?

– Well, many of the older ones don’t do this, several are just very invisible. Just look at the Johannson family who own Norgesgruppen. So you also have some heirs who don’t want to be visible at all. I believe that this is not a responsibility that falls on the big businessmen and that it should be a personal choice. It is a privilege of the owner, and in Røkke’s case, it may appear that he wants to pass that responsibility on to the individual system manager. And the moment you want to end up on the cover and make headlines, you just do.