Suddenly, Huawei is hacked again!
On November 10, Sweden’s 5G spectrum will be officially auctioned. On the eve of the auction, the Swedish Post and Telecommunications Administration, but hard to engage in a very unreliable regulations – all telecommunications companies participating in the auction, are not allowed to use Huawei and other Chinese equipment; the equipment being used, all must be replaced before the beginning of 2025.
A blanket ban, straight out of the matter. American Foreign Affairs magazine bluntly stated, “The restrictions introduced by Sweden against Huawei are one of the latest, and strongest, moves of any country.”
As the incident fermented, it was discovered that there was a mysterious force behind the Swedish government, the Wallenberg family.
-The two current heads of the Wallenberg family
As the saying goes, “A single hand cannot cover the sky, but a single tile can make a nation”.
This Swedish family, which is “present, but invisible”, has been in existence for six generations. Famous companies – telecommunications giant Ericsson, machinery and equipment giant ABB, pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca, aircraft and car maker Saab, Scandinavian Airlines, etc. – are all controlled by the Wagner family. They control almost one-third of the Swedish stock market, and some people ridicule them: the Swedish stock market should be called WACKER.
WACKER’s investment companies in China are involved in construction, education, e-commerce, medicine and many other industries. Unexpectedly, they are making money in China while “stabbing” Chinese companies in the back. ……
Breaking the curse of “no more than three generations of wealth”
The rich generation of the Vallenbergs was André Oscar Wallenberg. Born in 1816, he served in the navy as a young man and later ran a shipping business, founding the SEB Bank at the age of 40.
At the time, Swedish banks rarely financed businesses with savings funds, but André visited the United States during his early seafaring years and learned about the financial industry there, which led to his return to the United States and the creation of a new banking model.
-André Oskar Wallenberg.
After André’s death, the Wachovia family was headed jointly by his two sons.
The eldest, Nat, was interested in politics and public service, and ran a bank as well as writing editorials for a newspaper. Later, he withdrew from the business world and handed over all the responsibilities to his younger brother, Marcus.
Marcus was originally a magistrate, but had a good head for business, and after taking charge of the family bank in 1911, he gradually expanded his business into many new industries such as engineering and electricity.
-Marcus Wallenberg
Nat was childless, and the third generation at the head of the Wachovia family was Marcus’s two sons, Jacob and Marcus Jr.
The two brothers did not immediately walk away from their position as successors once their successor status was established, but first learned the business for several years from their own father, who arranged for them to learn the business from the bank’s then CEO. It wasn’t until 1927 that Jacob took over the bank and through strong acquisitions amassed a substantial fortune for the bank.
In 1946, Marcus Jr. took over as CEO of the bank.
-Jacob Wallenberg.
Marcus Jr. had high hopes for his son, Mark, and handed over the bank to him in 1958. At the time, the family bank was wealthy, but stagnant. Eventually, in 1971, Mark chose to commit suicide, reportedly due to stress.
Thereafter, Peter, another son who was not favored by Marcus Jr. was pushed to the front. And Peter, just in time for the bullishness of the stock market, took the opportunity to regain lost ground and prove his mettle. Under his leadership, the family’s pharmaceutical company developed a drug to treat stomach ulcers, and Ericsson made a breakthrough in the mobile telecommunications industry.
The smooth-running Peter lived a long life and remained the family’s grand patriarch after retiring from the front line, passing away in 2015 at the age of 88.
-Peter Wallenberg.
Today, the fifth generation of WACKER heads a pair of cousins born in 1956 – Peter’s son Jacob Jr. and Mark’s son Marcus Jr. In addition, Peter’s second son, Peter Junior, is also involved in the family business.
-Successive heads of the Warenburg family
Having weathered the 2008 financial crisis, the Wachovia family’s businesses are still growing steadily. More than 10 members of the sixth generation are already working in family-related companies or the family foundation.
Taking an inventory of the family’s inheritance, two characteristics are obvious: firstly, intergenerational inheritance is often a partnership between brothers, joint or alternate power, but not separate; secondly, the next generation of successors are selected on the basis of merit, if the young master is inexperienced, the older generation not only arranges a helper, but also often has to send a ride themselves.
Good business always comes out of bad luck
One of the reasons that the Va family controls so many businesses today is that they are not afraid of risk and like to take advantage of the low prices. This was a style pioneered during the time of André, who said, “Good business is always made out of bad luck”.
In 1896, the economic crisis took its toll on the Wachovia banking business.
A legend has it that when there was a run on the bank, André had a security guard walk into the bank with a few bags of money and waltz in to reassure the customers. It’s like a bridge copied from a commercial warfare novel, and it’s hard to tell if it’s true or not.
But then his bank did face a difficult choice: either the business to which he owed a loan declared bankruptcy, or the bank would try to help the business get back on its feet. Andrei often chose the latter, and so slowly became a major shareholder in many companies.
-Major enterprises of the Wallenberg family
When the Great Depression hit in the 1920s and 1930s, the Vaals acquired a number of loss-making companies. For example, Astra Pharmaceuticals, which was bought for one Swedish krona per share, became the largest pharmaceutical company in the Nordics. Another example was the bankruptcy of the Swedish matchmaker Knuge, an old rival of Wagner’s. Wagner took the opportunity to buy most of his shares and took control of a large number of companies.
When a company is in WACKER’s hands, it is not easy to get rid of it, and even if something goes wrong, WACKER’s strategy is to try to save it. For example, Atlas, a mining truck company, was insolvent. Marcus sold it to a new company he started at a low price, reorganized and revived it, and it has grown into an industry leader.
The Vaja’s approach to controlling companies, on the other hand, is a four-way street. Sweden has a dual shareholding system, where A shares are illiquid but have voting rights on the board of directors, while B shares are large but only have voting rights on dividends and so on. In other words, as long as you own A shares, you have a firm grip on the company. Wagner understands this, and one of its most classic battles was to take control of white goods maker Electrolux with a 4% stake.
Waja also chooses companies and industries with a better eye.
In André’s time, new forms of limited liability companies were replacing traditional Swedish factories and trading companies, and railroads were being built in large numbers. The family bank he headed was involved in these developments, and the business only grew. To this day, Vaasa still likes to invest in infrastructure projects, including telecommunications, with a strong backing and impact.
At the same time, the Wa family also has a presence in emerging markets and new industries, investing in the paper industry, electromechanics and railways in the early years. Today, the family is also heavily invested in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
The behind-the-scenes manipulator who understands politics
The Wa family is in the business of big business, so of course, it cannot do without good relations with political leaders. This is an area that successive generations of Vaasa family heads have also been well versed in.
The first head of the family, André, worked hard in Parliament to establish Stockholm’s first private bank, which started the whole family business. When the bank was not doing well, he is said to have asked the King of Sweden to deposit a large sum of money to stabilize the confidence of depositors.
The second head of the family, Nath, was Swedish Foreign Minister and tried to prevent Sweden from supporting Germany during the First World War. This was a sound judgment, and Sweden eventually came out on the winning side. Later, he was also involved in the negotiation of a trade agreement between Sweden and Britain. Incidentally, the Wagner family has produced a dozen or so diplomats, and Lagergren, wife of former UN Secretary General Annan, is the sister of a Wagnerian diplomat.
-Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (left) and his wife.
Sweden remained neutral in WWII, doing business with Britain and Germany, and benefited from both ends of the bargain. The three generations of Vaja heads also bet both ways, intentionally or unintentionally –
Jacob had dealings with Nazi Germany, and the bank for which he was responsible helped the Nazis transfer the wealth looted from the Jews and was also involved in business in the newly occupied Nazi territories; Marcus Jr. was more sympathetic to the Jews and close to the Allies.
This strategy helped the Wachs to continue unscathed after World War II. Furthermore, Sweden gave much support to Saab, the military-industrial enterprise controlled by the Wagner family, in order to strengthen its national defense and develop its military industry during World War II.
It is worth mentioning that the Wagner generation included a celebrity, Raul, known as the “Swedish Schindler”, who was not a key member of the family. He was not a key member of the family, was not a successful businessman, and was even bored by the family business, but he retained his reputation as a rescuer of Jewish refugees.
-Monument to Raoul Wallenberg
As First Secretary at the Swedish Embassy, Raul travelled to Budapest, Hungary, in 1944. He rescued Jews by bribing the Gestapo, among other things, to give them special “protection passes”, calling them Swedish citizens awaiting deportation. He rented 30 houses to house these so-called “Swedish Jews” and saved tens of thousands of Jews.
In January 1945, Raul disappeared, and it was not until 2016 that the Wagner family officially acknowledged his death. This saving of Raul’s life earned the family a good name in Jewish (and especially American Jewish) circles.
Most importantly, it was the cooperation with the Swedish government, which brought many benefits to the Waja.
For example, in 1903, when the electrical equipment company controlled by the Waja was threatened by competition from its German counterparts, the head of the company, Marcus, wanted to work with the other side, but no deal was made. He then began lobbying Parliament and succeeded in convincing the government to raise import duties on electrical equipment, squeezing out his German rivals.
4
Tangled up with America?
Wagner’s companies are doing well in China, especially Ericsson, which derives a large portion of its revenue from China. Previously, the Wagner family had had many happy interactions with China.
Key members of the family have visited China several times, one of whom had an illness during his visit and was effectively treated. When the Chinese leaders visited Sweden, the Wa family was also a host family on many occasions.
So, why the sudden change of face of the Wa family? Why is it that when the Swedish government introduced the unfair measures, not only did the Wa family, which has made great business profits in China, not say a fair word, but there were rumors in the industry that the family was pushing the issue behind the scenes?
There’s an argument to be made: because of Ericsson. In the 5G world, Huawei and Ericsson are competitors.
Due to the unjustified rejection of Huawei in the United States, space has been created for Ericsson to grow. Especially in the United States, in March this year, its 5G equipment smart factory has been put into operation. But the United States is not satisfied, the federal government came forward to pressure, to help American companies to acquire Ericsson to accelerate the development of 5G technology in the United States. So there is speculation that Sweden is helping the U.S. to suppress Huawei in order to protect its own Ericsson.
Huawei’s stance on this approach is candid: “Huawei has been operating in Sweden for 20 years and has never had any security incidents. We have neither the ability nor the will to pose any threat to Sweden’s security. Excluding Huawei will not make Sweden’s 5G network more secure, but will limit competition and innovation.”
At the end of the day, Huawei just wants a fair chance to compete, just like Ericsson got in China. That’s not too much to ask, is it?
There’s another argument for the money.
The U.S. Army signed an $87 million ($570 million) contract with Saab, a Vaja-controlled military-industrial company, to buy Saab’s Carl Gustav single-unit recoilless cannon, ready to equip the U.S. Army starting in 2021. With the U.S. Army’s military capabilities, it seems a bit surprising to be buying weapons from Sweden.
While a few tens of millions of dollars may not be enough to significantly affect the Varsity, it doesn’t rule out the possibility that their change in attitude has something to do with all this arms business.
China is open for business, and law-abiding foreign companies have been given the opportunity to grow in the country. The potential of the Chinese market is well known. Shouldn’t the Wallenberg family, which claims to have a global vision, also feel their conscience and settle their accounts a little more clearly?
Recent Comments