Carl-Eric Björkegren

Carl-Eric Björkegren (born 9 October 1920 – disappeared 2 June 1994) was a Swedish director, art collector, and businessman. After a successful career within the steel conglomerate Sandvik AB, he transitioned into the financial industry - leveraging and acquiring real estate, stocks, and art. For many, he was a symbol of the 1980s boom economy. Björkegren was, for a period, one of Sweden's wealthiest individuals and possessed what was described as Sweden's finest private art collection. In the early 1990s, his empire crumbled, and he eventually declared personal bankruptcy with 1.3 billion Swedish kronor in debt. In 1994, he disappeared without a trace. On 11 November 2005, Björkegren was declared dead in absentia by the Stockholm District Court.

Early life Björkegren was born on 9 October 1920 in Eslöv, Sweden, the son of Carl Björkegren, a merchant, and his wife Judith (née Jansson). He passed studentexamen in Helsingborg in 1938. Björkegren was commissioned as an officer on 1 September 1944 and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 June 1946. Björkegren belonged to the North Scanian Infantry Regiment (I 6). He graduated from the Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law in Gothenburg in 1949.

Career Björkegren worked as an accountant at Sandvikens Jernverks AB in 1953, became an intendant in 1958, and assumed the position of chief financial officer in 1961. Björkegren became the deputy managing director in 1965 and held the position of first deputy managing director from 1979 to 1981. Along with his director colleague Lars Forsberg, they had purchased 30,000 shares in Sandvik without informing the Securities Register Centre. For Björkegren's part, this offense resulted in a penalty of 25 day-fines of 1,000 kronor each.

He was the chairman of the board of directors in Barkman & Co AB, Indata AB, AB Betula, and Royal Classics Hotels in Copenhagen, and Sheraton Stockholm Hotel in Stockholm

Björkegren resided for a period of time in the 1980s, in in Diplomatstaden, Stockholm, Björkegren later moved to but lost the apartment when he divorced in 1993. He then moved to the summer villa in Viken, Scania, which was purchased for 5.5 million kronor. Most of this resulted from his personal guarantees for loans that his companies had taken, particularly the scandal-ridden , the largest creditor. Later, it was discovered that Björkegren had stashed away several million in a secret bank account in Switzerland. These funds were used, among other things, to pay a butler who managed the household in Viken and took care of various practical matters for him. (1920–1984), daughter of director Ivar Varenius (1889–1954) and his wife Hellen Sjögren (1894–1925). They had three children: Bo (born 1945), Eva (born 1948), and Agneta (born 1952). They had two children: Anne (born 1971) and Carl (born 1973). They divorced in 1987.

In 1990, Björkegren married Sophie Krönlein (1937–2025). They divorced in 1993.

Disappearance On 2 June 1994, Björkegren disappeared without a trace from his residence in Viken, south of Höganäs in Scania, just hours before he was supposed to board a plane to Stockholm, where his lawyer Henning Sjöström and his daughter Eva were waiting for him in a pre-booked room at the Grand Hôtel.

He was reported missing by his family a little over two weeks after his disappearance. Björkegren's butler was the last person to see him alive. According to the butler's testimony, Björkegren was at home on the morning of 2 June 1994. The butler left for a couple of hours to take care of his child. When he returned, both Björkegren and his luggage were gone.

In 2012, there was a report from former head of the National Criminal Police, , suggesting that Björkegren had debts in the criminal underworld connected to art and that when these debts were to be collected, something went wrong, and then hitmen had to hide the body.

Aftermath After the disappearance, the beach villa in Viken was sold by Gota Bank at a forced auction at a loss. The bank then demanded the difference from Björkegren's daughters to cover the loans. Björkegren's daughters took the matter to court to avoid paying the debt, and the district court found that the bank had been aware that the daughters could never manage to repay such large loans and reduced the debt by half. The bank appealed to the appellate court, which ruled that the entire amount should be paid. Björkegren's family has placed a memorial plaque at the old cemetery in Viken. The plaque bears his name, year of birth, and the year he disappeared, 1994. The bankruptcy proceedings after Björkegren were concluded in the autumn of 2003, after twelve years of work. The assets in the form of bank funds, shares, and claims amounted to 64 million Swedish kronor, while the debts totaled 1.3 billion kronor. In November 2005, Björkegren was declared legally dead by the Stockholm District Court.

Popular culture In 2011, a novel titled The Billionaire Who Disappeared was published by Ola Lauritzson. The novel is a fictional story but is clearly inspired by the life story of Carl-Eric Björkegren. The book is based on interviews with Björkegren's family and business associates.