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Founders Notes: Furthering A Fortune

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Furthering a Fortune Ulf Olsson K.A. Wallenberg had systematically built up the bank's own funds: "Long experience in this bank has taught us that we must, almost exclusively, put our trust in ourselves. NOTE The Wallenbergs always had more liquidity than other banks. And did not want to put themselves in a position where they had to rely on the kindness of outsiders. The bank did not content itself with writing off the lending losses, but continued to maintain its interests in the debtor companies, in an attempt to rescue them and, at some future date, recover as much of the bad debts as possible. NOTE The family rarely — if ever — sold. In many cases there are problems in businesses they own for decades and in time those problems could be solved or work themselves out. The bank took on the clear characteristics of a firm, which, not only carried on normal banking business and served as the centre of an industrial group, but also functioned as manager of the family's wealth. Ownership, management and the nature of the business, were closely interwoven. In 1900, Marcus Wallenberg wrote, in a letter to one of the bank's new employees: "You are familiar with the quality of the bank a

Furthering a Fortune Ulf Olsson K.A. Wallenberg had systematically built up the bank's own funds: "Long experience in this bank has taught us that we must, almost exclusively, put our trust in ourselves. NOTE The Wallenbergs always had more liquidity than other banks. And did not want to put themselves in a position where they had to rely on the kindness of outsiders. The bank did not content itself with writing off the lending losses, but continued to maintain its interests in the debtor companies, in an attempt to rescue them and, at some future date, recover as much of the bad debts as…

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