Kjeld Rimberg

Kjeld Rimberg (born 18 November 1943) is a Norwegian businessperson.

Early career

He hails from Nordnes in Bergen, and was an avid skier and ski-instructor in his youth.^[1] He worked as instructor in Switzerland for some time, combined with studies in Zuerich.^[2] He took his education in construction engineering at ETH Zürich before graduating from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1969.^[3] He was active in the Student Society in Trondheim, and worked as a research assistant at the Norwegian Institute of Technology as well as a researcher for NTNF for five years.^[4][5]

In 1982 he became the CEO of Asplan.^[6] From September to 31 December he worked as CEO of Byggforsk to get that organization on its feet.^[7] In 1986 he was named as board member of Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk.^[8] He was also a board member of Norconsult, and was in 1987 named as chair of Vinmonopolet,^[9] where he stayed until 1995.^[2] Shortly thereafter the company KV Forsvar was split from Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk, and Rimberg became chair there as well.^[10] He was a deputy board member of Statoil.^[11]

Norwegian State Railways

In 1988 he applied for the director-general position in the Norwegian State Railways. Robert Nordén had left, and Tore Lindholt was acting director-general.^[11] He was hired in September. He had to overcome opposition from Leif Thue and the Norwegian Union of Railway Workers, then the wage question had to be sorted out. He wanted an annual salary of NOK 490,000, but the state wanted it to stay where it was, at NOK 384,000.^[3][12] The wage eventually reached NOK 685,000 during Rimberg's time.^[13] He started on 1 January 1989.^[14] The name of the position was changed from director-general to chief executive officer.^[15] In February 1990, after thirteen months in the job, he resigned, citing lack of freedom from political regulations as the reason.^[16] Leif Thue and the Union of Railway Workers stated that they did "not lament" his resignation.^[17]

Consulting career

In 1989 he had become chairman of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society. He remained so until 1991.^[18] In 1990 he became a board member of Den Norske Hypotekforening and Rogalandsforskning,^[19][20] and chairman of Norsk Nyetablering.^[21] He was also chair of Chr. Grøner and Terramar, and deputy chair of Byggholt. After resigning Rimberg started his own consulting firm.^[1] In 1990 he was a project adviser in Statkraft,^[22] He was also an adviser for the Norwegian School of Management.^[23] He also hired other consultants to work in the company, including Siri Hatlen.^[24]

Rimberg chaired Nationaltheatret from 1992 to 2001.^[25] He was chairman of Forskningsparken,^[26] Anthon B Nilsen, STEP,^[2] and Berstad Wallendahl,^[27] a board member of Aschehoug,^[28] Norge 2005,^[29] and Aker.^[30] He has also been an owner in Aker. In 2006 he had 10,300 stocks in the company, through his own company Kjeld Rimberg & Co.^[31]

He is a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences.^[32]

References

1. Gamnes, Hanne (30 June 1990). "Rimberg på nye spor". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 3.
2. Jenssen, Hugo Lauritz (14 September 1996). "Men tankene mine får du". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 24.
3. "Kjeld Rimberg ny generaldirektør i NSB" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 8 September 1988.
4. Moy, Ragnhild (9 September 1988). "Kjent konfliktløser blir ny NSB-topp". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 25.
5. Haugli, Åsne (9 September 1988). "En slentrende generaldirektør". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 2.
6. Grande, Arne (13 August 1988). "Navn i nyhetene: Kjeld Rimberg" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency.
7. Parmann, Georg (17 December 1985). "Norges Byggforskningsinstitutt på rett vei: Krise snudd til overskudd". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 9.
8. Myhrvold, Brit (21 November 1985). "Quenild går, Glad kommer". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 33.
9. Grande, Arne (17 June 1987). "Navn i nyhetene: Kjeld Rimberg" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency.
10. "Nytt selskap tar over KVs forsvarsdivisjon" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 23 June 1987.
11. Knutsen, Terje S. (13 August 1988). "Rimberg ny NSB-sjef?". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 3.
12. Haugli, Åsne (27 August 1988). "Thue klar for Rimberg i NSB". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 4.
13. "Helt normalt med 700 000 i lønn". Aftenposten Aften (in Norwegian). 29 June 1990. p. 2.
14. "Ring Rimberg i P2!". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 2 January 1989. p. 32.
15. "Sjefen eneste søker til Posten". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 2 October 1990. p. 32.
16. "Kjeld Rimberg slutter i NSB" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 2 February 1990.
17. "Jernbaneforbundet: Beklager ikke Rimbergs avskjed" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 3 February 1990.
18. "PFs formenn 1852 - 2004" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Polytechnic Society. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
19. "Rimberg til DNH". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). 31 March 1990. p. 2.
20. "Espedal styreformann". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). 24 April 1990. p. 36.
21. Evensen, Kjell (22 May 1990). "Rimberg leder tålmodig investor". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 19.
22. Østerbø, Kjell (15 August 1990). "Ny vegg for Rimbergs hode". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 2.
23. "Rimberg til BI". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). 17 March 1990. p. 12.
24. "Siri, ski og Schibsted". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). 7 December 1996. p. 12.
25. "Nytt styre for Nationaltheatret" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 19 June 2001.
26. "Rimberg styreleder i Forskningsparken". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 5 September 1986. p. 18.
27. Spang, Einar H. (30 May 1998). "Ryddegutt til Berstad Wallendahl". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). p. 39.
28. "Inn i Aschehoug-styret". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). 17 June 2003. p. 46.
29. Haakaas, Einar (11 May 2005). "1905-festen mye dyrere". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 3.
30. Takla, Einar (24 March 2007). "Krohn Devold inn i Aker-styret". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 12.
31. "Innsider kjøper i Aker". Økonomisk Rapport (in Norwegian). 20 February 2006.
32. "Medlemmer: RIMBERG, Kjeld" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences. Retrieved 29 December 2013.