Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.09.2018, Qupperneq 54

54 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 17— 2018
....OPEN FROM 06:00
The beginning of this war was com-
plicated, so keep in mind that this
is a very simple recap. Róbert Wess-
man was minding his own business
(literally), running a small pharma-
ceutical company called Delta, when
Björgólfur Thor and his team saw an
opportunity. They carried out a hos-
tile takeover in 2002 and renamed
the company Actavis. Róbert was the
CEO for a few years, until he was fired
abruptly at the end of 2007. Björgól-
fur later accused him of running
the company almost into the gutter.
Róbert didn’t take this lying down,
and started another pharmaceutical
company called Alvogen. And then
shit got serious.
The civil case
Róbert said in an interview in 2016
that Björgólfur, with the help of
Deutsche Bank, had ripped him off,
and confisticated all of his stock in
Alvogen—worth a few hundred mil-
lion ISK. After a few court cases where
the men subpoenaed each other, the
right hand and business partner of
Róbert financed an unprecedented
civil case against Björgólfur. The
plaintiffs were former shareholders
in Landsbankinn, which went bru-
tally bust in 2008. They wanted their
money back, but even more, they
wanted to shame Björgólfur, and to
portray him as a figurehead of the
banking collapse. The case was dis-
missed—but the war wasn’t over.
Bully!
In 2015 Björgólfur accused Róbert of
bullying him with his fortune, which,
he said, Róbert was hiding in an off-
shore tax paradise. This was iron-
ic, because Björgólfur is frequently
listed as being one of the 500 richest
people in the UK, and Róbert is not.
Róbert’s response, however, was
equally brutal. He said that Björgól-
fur’s accusations were pathetic and
flat out embarrassing for the billion-
aire. He stated that Björgólfur him-
self never took any responsibility for
the financial collapse, although he
was a key figure in Icelandic busi-
ness life at the time. And he added
that Björgólfur only paid a fraction
of what he owed to his debtors after-
wards.
The last battle
Just when you thought things couldn’t
get worse, they did. Björgólfur sued
Róbert and his business partner, and
demanded that they repay four bil-
lion ISK that they transferred from
Actavis to an account of one of Wess-
man’s investment companies. The Su-
preme Court acquitted the pair, and
Björgólfur was sentenced to pay the
legal costs. Ouch!
So, where are they now? Well, not
friends, at least. There has been a si-
lent armistice in the war of the bil-
lionaires for a year now. But you know
the super rich—they’re always plot-
ting their revenge, like some kind of
psychotic Count of Monte Cristo.
CITY SHOT by Jessica Bowe
WAR OF THE BILLIONAIRES
Another Drama,
Another Dollar
Rich people freaking out at each other
Words:
Valur
Grettisson
WELL, YOU ASKED
Career Moves
And Muggles
Words: Christine Engel Snitkjær
Dear Grapevine,
Should sleeping on an air mattress
render an adult man undateable?
This is a good question. In my
opinion, it sounds like an adult man
sleeping on an air mattress has a very
intriguing life story to tell. But more
importantly, what do you think? Is
this particular man un-datable or are
you finding reasons not to date him
based on past relationships? Are you
afraid to get hurt if you open up? Are
you running? Listen to your heart.
Why won’t I stop worrying about
what muggles think of me?
I hope you realize you have chosen
a muggle magazine to answer this
question. It sounds like you may
have taken this worry to an extreme
and I recommend taking yourself
less seriously. Practice some self-
compassion and know that you
don’t have to be perfect. If it helps,
I can tell you the hard truth about
our relationship with wizards: we
muggles have other things to worry
about.
When is the right time to quit my
job and pursue a full time career as
a social media influencer?
This answer varies depending on your
agenda. As we all know, social media
is a powerful tool. Why do you want
to become a social media influencer?
If your answer is something along
the lines of, I want to help children
in need across the world, then don’t
waste another second at your current
job. But remember, even things done
for the right reasons can turn out
harmful. Tread carefully.

Send your unsolvable (UNTIL NOW)
problems to editor@grapevine.is or
tweet us at @rvkgrapevine.
In a perfect world, Björgólfur and Róbert would just have a good old fashioned fist fight