Thor Bjorgolfsson

Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, known internationally as Thor Bjorgolfsson, and colloquially in Iceland as Bjöggi, is an Icelandic businessman and entrepreneur, and former chairman of Straumur-Burðarás and chairman of Novator Partners.

Iceland’s sole billionaire Thor Bjorgolfsson owns stakes in such businesses as Polish telecom Play, which went public in 2017 and Chilean telecom WOM.

Bjorgolfsson also has investments in cryptocurrencies and such startups as Zwift, BeamUp and Deliveroo.

Bjorgolfsson made his first fortune in the wilds of Russia, cofounding Bravo brewery and creating the popular Botchkarov beer brand.

He sold it to Heineken in 2002 and used the proceeds to go on a buying spree in his native Iceland and Eastern Europe.

He lost nearly all of his fortune when Iceland nearly went bankrupt in 2008 and he had to find a way to pay off more than $1 billion in debt.