Petter Stordalen

Petter Anker Stordalen Bjorvand (born 29 November 1962) is a Norwegian billionaire businessman, hotel and property developer and self-proclaimed environmentalist. He has an estimated net worth of US$1.3 billion stemming from investments in hotels, shopping centers and property. Stordalen owns Strawberry, a corporate group consisting of ten companies in real estate, finance, hotels and art. Through Strawberry Hospitality Group, Stordalen owns Nordic Choice Hotels, consisting of over 200 hotels and employing 17,000 people. In the later stages of his career, Stordalen has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors together with his wife, doctor and environmentalist Gunhild Anker Stordalen, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations within climate change and scientific research programs through the Stordalen Foundation, established in 2011. He has been a co-owner of SunClass Airlines since 2019. Early life and education Stordalen was born in Porsgrunn in Telemark, Norway to grocer Knut Anker Stordalen (1933–94) and Kari Stordalen. At the age of ten he began helping in his father's grocery store and at the age of twelve he began selling strawberries at the local market. He already then displayed his acumen for business, being named "Norway’s top strawberry seller" in the local paper, Porsgrunns Dagblad, in 1974, beating out his competition of 50- to 60-year-old market ladies. Following high school he attended Kjøpmannsinstituttet for one year, he then managed his father's store for a short time before going off to the Norwegian School of Marketing. Career Shopping centers At 24 he took over what was, at the time, the largest shopping center in Norway, City Syd, in Trondheim as the country's youngest shopping center manager. After posting record profits at City Syd he became property director in Atle Brynestad's company Made in. As property director Stordalen was the architect behind the conversion of the former market area in downtown Trondheim and the re-launch of Liertoppen shopping centre outside Oslo. He was also put in charge of the Bik Bok brand