Or should I say from? Though John Fredriksen chose to abandon his Norwegian citizenship and take up a Cypriot passport in order to avoid Norwegian taxes, he officially now is the richest man in Cyprus, but he continues to soar high above the rest on the rich-people-lists in his former home country with his $8 billions (55 billions NOK). Described as a modern-day Onassis, he started out with nothing on the east side of Oslo, but he currently owns the largest tanker fleet ever. Among the companies he is majority shareholder is Frontline, Golden Ocean, Seadrill and Marine Harvest. Fredriksen has the twins Kathrine and Cecilie (born 1983) with his late wife Inger Katharina Astrup Fredriksen. Together they have accumulated personal property around the world, almost all of which have one common feature: beachfront.
The Old Rectory
John Fredriksen mainly controls his companies from his 3000 square meter Chelsea home in London, the Old Rectory, which he bought from fellow shipping magnate Theodore Angelopoulos. The mansion dates from the 17th century and has the second largest garden in London, second only to Buckingham Palace. The Rectory was were author Charles Kingsley spent his youth when his father was the rector of Chelsea Old Church in the 1830s. Charles Dickens married in the livingroom and the battle of Waterloo was planned in the neat gardens.
House at Bygdøy
Østre Movik Farm
His late wife was the chief of the family’s Norwegian property portfolio, including the house the twin-sisters bought from their father this year at Bygdøy in Oslo, the farm Østre Movik at Nøtterøy in Tønsberg and several apartments.
There is also his palace between Puerto Banús and Marbella (above) bought from a Persian Queen in the early 90s and said to have housed celebrities such as Bruce Willis and Kevin Costner. Last but not least, is his luxury 500 square meter penthouse apartment in Limassol, Cyprus (below), with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean.
Fun fact: Fredriksen reportedly received an offer of £100 million on his London home in 2004 from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich on the property, only to turn it down.
Sources: Blom, Google, E24, Dagbladet, RBKC libraries, Wikipedia
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