Meet Scandinavia's 'King of Hotels,' a 57-year-old daredevil who spends his billions rappelling down the facades of his own hotels and has 200,000 Instagram followers

Taylor Borden

December 10, 2019 2:17 PM

Victor Boyko/Getty Images; Taylor Borden/Business Insider

Petter Stordalen was born in Porsgrunn, Norway and got his start helping his grocer father sell strawberries at the local market at age 12.

Petter Stordalen is a Norwegian hotelier who wears 12-pound, one-of-a-kind Balmain jackets , rappels down the facades of hotels , and spends his fortune investing in environmentally friendly causes.
He now owns the biggest hotel chain in Scandinavia along with a smattering of other business ventures, including the Scandinavian arm of recently bankrupted Thomas Cook , but he got his start selling strawberries in his local market.
The 57-year-old is worth $1.4 billion , according to Forbes.
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Petter Stordalen thanks tiny strawberries for his fortune.

At age 12, he was selling strawberries in his local Norwegian market. Now, at age 57, he owns a variety of businesses through a corporation he named the Strawberry Group. Included in that group is the largest hotel chain in Scandinavia, with just under 200 hotels.

One of those hotels, The Amerikalinjen in Oslo, was just named the 12th-best hotel in the world and the best in Northern Europe by Cond Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards.

Stordalen is known for his outlandish fashion choices , pulling off questionable stunts , and building a billion-dollar fortune even after being ousted from his first CEO position.

Representatives of Stordalen's company, the Strawberry Group, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Stordalen's career, net worth, or personal life from Business Insider.

Keep reading to learn more about Stordalen's life, career, and wealth.

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