Is it possible to work your way up to become one of Norway’s richest?
The richest among us are getting richer and richer. And so it has been for a long time.
Marianne Nordli Hansen works at the University of Oslo and has researched those with the most money and what they do with their money.
Among other things, her research has shown that having a lot of wealth means having a lot of power.
Your wealth is the sum of all the money you have and the value of houses, cottages and other things you own.
According to Hansen’s research, having a lot of money gives you power. Those with such power can influence politics so that they become even richer. They also get better control over their money and pass it on to their children so that they too become rich.
Who are the rich in Norway?
Many of the very richest earn a lot of money from what is called capital income. It is money they earn because they own shares or other things. They therefore do not earn most of their money as wages from a job.
Many of the richest people in Norway deal in real estate, fisheries or the sale of various things and services such as food or hotel rooms.
But many of the very richest have also inherited a lot of money from their rich parents.
– The richest people in Norway are billionaires. Most own companies and are managers in business or owners. Some also work in the companies they own. Many of them already come from rich families, says Hansen.
The country’s richest
The richest person in Norway is Gustav Magnar Witzøe. He is 31 years old and has a fortune of over NOK 25 billion.
He is one of those who inherited his money from his rich father. His father, Gustav Witzøe, started the fish farming company SalMar in 1991. The company is today the world’s second largest salmon farmer.
Another Norwegian billionaire is Odd Reitan. He is best known as the founder of Rema 1000. His sons, Ole Robert and Magnus Reitan, are also billionaires.
The two richest women on the list are Alexandra and Katharina Gamlemshaug Andresen. They have inherited their money from their father Johan H. Andresen jr., who in turn inherited his money from his father.
Jobs you can get rich from
But if you don’t have really rich parents, there are also jobs where you can get quite rich.
– You can also become rich through having specific educations that give access to highly paid jobs or businesses where you earn well.
– Today it is less common to become a self-made billionaire, but it is still possible, says Hansen.
To get such a job, you need an education, and many of the professions require fairly similar educations.
Several of the jobs require education in finance and accounting.
High paying job
In 2022, Statistics Norway made a list of the jobs with the highest salary.
Trade and ship brokers, who make agreements on how goods are to be transported around the world, top the list with a salary of over NOK 115,000 a month.
In insurance and finance, those who work to protect your money and issue loans, people earned an average of NOK 108,660 a month.
Top managers in public administration, financial brokers and finance and finance managers earned NOK 107,000 a month on average.
The average salary in Norway in 2023 was NOK 56,360, but over 60 per cent have a lower salary than the average because those with very high salaries drag the average up.
Is it possible to become rich?
But if you’re going to be really rich, it’s best to have rich parents.
– If you have very rich parents, it is very common to receive inheritances and gifts at an early age, says Hansen.
Many of the richest have inherited their money when they were young and saved and invested it over the years. That gives them a big advantage. This is how many of the rich families just get richer and richer.
Sources:
VG’s tax list of the richest people in Norway.
An article on NRK about the rich who have moved out of the country.
The study by Marianne Nordli Hansen about the Norwegian elite.
A list of the best-paid professions in Norway from Nettavisen.
