Johannson is majority owner of NorgesGruppen, Norway's largest grocer. The Oslo-based business is closely held and has more than 1,800 stores in its home country. The chains it operates include discount retailer Kiwi, Spar supermarkets and Joker convenience stores. It had revenue of 87.8 billion kroner ($10.8 billion) in 2018.
Johan Johannson's net worth of $5.01B can buy ...
... and is equivalent to ...
The majority of Johannson's fortune is derived from NorgesGruppen. The Oslo-based company is Norway's largest retailer. The family holding company, Joh Johannson, controls a 74 percent stake, with the balance held by suppliers and distributors, according to the company's website. It has more than 1,800 grocery stores in Norway, according to the website.
The billionaire and his three children have a 99.9 percent economic interest in the holding company, according to its annual accounts, and he controls the asset with his uncle Torbjoern and father Knut Hartvig, whose shares in the family vehicle give them each one-third of the voting rights, and the remaining economic interest. Johannson confirmed the ownership structure in a 2004 interview with Oslo-based Verdens Gang.
He's credited with the 99.9 percent economic interest in the holding company to reflect his direct family's economic interest based on discussions with an Oslo-based tax lawyer who asked not to be identified because it's a family matter.
NorgesGruppen is valued using its 2018 financial results and the average enterprise value-to-sales, enterprise value-to-Ebitda and price-to-earnings multiples of three publicly traded peers: Axfood, ICA and Ahold.
The value of Johannson's cash investments is valued based on an analysis of stake purchases, dividends, taxes and charitable contributions as disclosed by NorgesGruppen. The group's non-grocery story real estate investments are valued separately, using the market value reported in the company's 2017 annual report.
Kine Soyland, a spokesperson for NorgesGruppen, declined to comment on the net wealth calculation.
Johan Johannson was born in 1967. He is the great-great-grandson of Johan Johannson, who founded wholesaler Joh. Johannson in 1866 and his family's grocery business three years later.
The billionaire studied management at university and worked as a consultant for Arthur Andersen before joining the family company. He's the fifth generation of Johannsons to run the retailer.
Johannson and his uncle, Torbjoern, are both directors of the company and his father, Knut Hartvig, is chairman. The trio manage the company together, the billionaire said in an e-mail interview with Norwegian daily Aftenposten in 2011. Johannson and his children have a more than 99 percent economic interest in family holding company Joh. Johannson, which controls a 74 percent stake of the group.
He is married with four children.