Alexandra Andresen, a 19-year-old professional dressage competitor, is now one of the world's newest billionaires. She narrowly edges out her 20-year-old sister, Katharina, for the title of youngest billionaire, as well. The sisters each have a net worth of $1.2 billion.
Alexandra and Katharina acquired their fortunes through inheritance. In 2007, their father, Johan F. Andresen, transferred his shares of Ferd Holdings, Norway's biggest company, to his daughters. The Andresen family made a massive fortune in the tobacco industry. Alexandra and Katharina's great, great, great grandfather founded Norway's biggest cigarette company. That company was sold for $500 million in 2005. The money from the sale was invested in hedge funds and real estate and it grew impressively.
Johan Andresen (Photo via Tore Sætre/Wikimedia Creative Commons)
In 2007, Johan Andresen transferred 80% of his shares in Ferd Holdings to Alexandra and Katharina. The sisters made the Forbes list of billionaires this year for the first time. As they are both now over the age of 17, the law compels them to make their tax returns, and therefore their personal fortunes, public.
What does a 19-year-old with a more than billion dollar fortune do? Alexandra prefers to spend time with her horses. She lives in Germany, where she rides professionally in dressage competitions. She and her horse, Belamour, make the rounds of the European Junior Riders Championships. Alexandra is dating 24-year-old Norwegian professional mixed martial arts fighter, Joachim Tollefsen.
Katharine Andresen, on the other hand, is a college student at Amsterdam University College with a fondness for expensive shoes from Jimmy Choo and Valentino. She dates model Mads Madsen and boasts about her money and her lifestyle on her Instagram feed. The jet setting heiress enjoys vacations in exotic locales, including on the superyacht, Sunny Hill, which costs $53,752 per week to charter. Katharina posted a photograph of her pouting in a bikini on the yacht with the caption "planning Spring Break, any suggestions?" She has also recently enjoyed vacations in New York, Italy, London, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands.
In an interview on the Ferd Holdings website, Alexandra Andresen remarked that having this great wealth was not enough. She intends to give something back and grow the company into something better.
Alexandra and Katharina Andresen are the two youngest billionaires in the world this year. They are the 1,475th richest people in the world. Fellow Norwegian. Gustav Magnar Witzoe, 22, is the third youngest billionaire, ranked at 1,476 in the world. Families in Scandinavian cultures pass down the family fortunes to the younger generations earlier to encourage them to get involved in the family business.
