An interview with Karl Hedin was published in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri on 12 December 2022. The 73-year-old timber industrialist and billionaire Karl Hedin represents the third generation of the family-run business AB Karl Hedin, which has been operating for over a hundred years.
In his interview with Dagens Industri, he states:
* on his views regarding property rights: “This is not ‘our’ forest, this is mine”
* on why he does not see climate change as a crisis: “Certainly not here”
* on endangered biodiversity: “Scaremongering propaganda”
* on a generational change that is unlikely to happen: “There is no problem with selling the company”
* on the time he spent in custody: “Instead of sending me to Siberia”
* on grizzly bear hunting in Alaska
About the company AB Karl Hedin
Operations: From forest ownership and raw material procurement to sawmills, building material sales, and packaging. A third-generation family business founded in 1917 by Karl Hedin's grandfather (also named Karl Hedin). The company owns 39,000 hectares of forest land.
Turnover: 6.5 billion Swedish krona
Profit: 1.4 billion Swedish krona
Number of employees: 1,100
Karl Hedin, CEO of AB Karl Hedin since 1983, executive chairman of the board since 2016.
“People who lack knowledge think that clear-felling is ugly. But it is not ugly; it just looks unusual for a few years. New habitats are formed in those places, and new species arrive. Moreover, we do not have any major clear-felling today, because, in principle, logging is carried out on only about 1% of the area per year, distributed across several felling sites.”
Biodiversity
“In Sweden, we are losing very few species. On the contrary, many species, such as the wolf, fallow deer, otter, various species of geese, and others, have been added. We now have what we didn't have 30 or 40 years ago. Today's scaremongering propaganda is based on repeating that biodiversity is disappearing, which is simply not true. It is a fact that some species are decreasing in number while others are increasing, but that is the most natural thing possible. Nature is not a museum; it is constantly changing.”
Climate change
“The climate is always changing. I do not deny that carbon dioxide levels are rising, nor do I deny that temperatures are rising. I do not agree that the rate of temperature increase could be any kind of crisis. Certainly not here.”
“I have no production facilities in other countries, except for Estonia. The situation there is about the same as in Sweden.”
A perfect day in the forest
“It is a day spent hunting with my dog. A hard day of hunting, when you come home late. Those are the days you remember best.”
The first generational change at AB Karl Hedin took place in the 1950s, when Karl Hedin's grandmother passed away. While her brothers, sisters, and cousins sold their inheritance shares, Karl Hedin continued the business. “There are eleven of us cousins, two of whom are still forest owners.”
In 1983, exactly ten years after Karl Hedin had started working in the company with his father, the time came for the next generational change. “I was filled with great doubt about whether to take over this business. I had grown up with the problems my father had to solve and saw that it was actually necessary all the time.”
It was with curiosity combined with caution that the thirty-four-year-old economist took his father's place in the old leather-upholstered office chair. The father sold everything to Karl and his sister Ulrika. Karl bought the shares of AB Karl Hedin, while his sister bought equivalent assets. The father moved to England and participated in shaping his daughter's career in show jumping, eventually taking up riding himself.
According to the prevailing views in Swedish society on family businesses, Karl belongs to the “spoiled generation,” but in the nearly 40 years he has been at the helm of the company, the group's turnover has grown from 180 million krona to 6.5 billion SEK.
“It is very difficult to be unhappy with that; on the contrary, I am very proud,” he says, speaking of the time he put the company's future on the line. This was done despite the fact that Karl does not consider himself a risk-taker (at least not compared to his father).
In 1985, the Avesta ironworks planned to sell its forest holdings due to a plant closure. “The forest property was in an ideal location. We acted very quickly, evaluating the 7,500 hectares included in the deal; most other interested parties did not have time to react. The sellers considered us suitable buyers for the sawmill, packaging production, and iron trading, which were also included in the deal.”
With 30 million krona of his own capital, Karl Hedin won a deal worth 100 million krona. The large debts (loans) required 15 years to repay; now the company has been debt-free for a long time. “It is a great feeling when the debt is paid off. We have the money in the bank; it belongs entirely to us, which is much better.”
When asked if this was the first time he had found it necessary to scale down operations, the experienced company head replied: “No, no, I have already done that nine times before!” Over the years, Karl Hedin has certainly thought about what will happen to AB Karl Hedin when he wants to retire. The third generational change seems unlikely for now. “One of my daughters works in the company on HR issues; it seems she is not interested in taking over the business. My other daughter is a teacher and has no interest in the company at all. I have no problem selling it, as long as it is good for the company's operations and staff.”
Summarising the discussion on sustainable forestry, Karl Hedin does not see any serious problems at all with today's working methods. “Swedish forestry and the timber industry are an excellent success story. We are creating an environment where the forest grows. Over a hundred years, growth has doubled, production has tripled, and as a result of our management, the volume of timber in the forest is much, much larger.”
The beginning of the forest empire led by Karl Hedin, which expanded around the same time in Västmanland and southern Dalarna, began at a time when his grandfather, Karl Hedin, lost his father at the age of 15. His mother was left alone with nine children.
The grandfather, the second oldest son in the family, started working as a horse-drawn carriage driver to haul timber from the forest. Some time later, he offered his services – to fell trees and sell them on behalf of farmers – before eventually starting to buy forest land himself. One of the initial acquisitions was the property Vikmanshyttan.
“Competitors wanted to discourage my grandfather from buying forest by agreeing among themselves that sawmills would not buy logs from him. He started sawing them himself.”
K. Hedin knows everything about the bark beetle infestation. At the beginning of last year, his company sued the state for 6.6 million krona, as he believed the pests had reached his property from a nearby nature reserve where insufficient measures were taken to prevent the spread of pests. He partially lost this battle in the first instance, unlike the mix-up with the hunting case that made him famous in every home throughout Sweden.
On 26 October 2018, Karl Hedin and several other hunters were detained by the police. The court completely acquitted them of charges of hunting violations; the verdict was appealed, and only after four years in the status of a suspect were he and the other hunters acquitted by the court of appeal. “The detention was a consequence of me saying what I thought, but what I said was perceived as offensive. The issue was about freedom of expression. Instead of sending me to Siberia, they treated me like this.”
Thanks to Lars George Hedlund, Södra Latvia, for the information material
Summary and translation from Swedish by Īra Režais