Researcher on Jan Stenbeck: “Tireless and reluctant – a thorn in the side of bureaucracy”

Many of us have seen the SVT drama series about entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck’s fight for deregulation in telecoms and media in the 1980s and 90s. But what made him a unique entrepreneur? And how has his entrepreneurship shaped today’s business world? We ask economic historian Klas A.M. Eriksson at the Stockholm School of Economics, who has researched Stenbeck and the deregulation of the telecommunications monopoly.

What made Jan Stenbeck a unique entrepreneur in Swedish business history?

– There are several things that correlate. Firstly, he came from an entrepreneurial family with a very large capital. Given that Comviq was largely in the red throughout the 1980s, deregulation would have been impossible without this money.

– Stenbeck was also a ruthless and fearless person with a strong entrepreneurial personality, who liked to be defiant. And you have to be if you are going to succeed in bringing about institutional change of this kind.

– It’s also important to remember that the spirit of the times matters. He was a child of his time, with a lot of inspiration from neoliberal ideas he got during his time in New York. In the 1980s, Sweden, like the rest of the Western world, was in an innovative era with a focus on deregulation, globalization and individual self-realization.

Was he a classic disruptive entrepreneur – or how would you describe his entrepreneurial style?

– Yes, absolutely. He had the kind of entrepreneurial personality that is needed for that kind of institutional innovation. He was extremely driven and very contrary – a tireless person who liked change and a fast pace. The opposite of a correct, rule-driven bureaucrat. This is well illustrated in the Stenbeck drama series.

What do you think Jan Stenbeck wanted to achieve with his entrepreneurship?

– I have mainly researched the practicalities of deregulation, so I can only speculate about his personal motivation. I think he liked new ideas and wanted to renew Kinnevik. He was well aware that a new era was dawning, with globalization and that the era of the mobile phone was at hand.

– And I honestly believe that he was a person who liked attention and being a thorn in the side of bureaucrats and conservatives.

What do you think he has contributed to Swedish entrepreneurship?

– Wow, that’s a lot! The wave of deregulation with the Swedish Telecommunications Authority and the TV monopoly are very big things. The media landscape changed radically after his efforts. At the same time, I don’t think we should put too much focus on individuals.

– There were big forces at work, and the transformation would probably have happened eventually anyway, even if it was Jan Stenbeck who led the transformation in Sweden. Of course, it’s a huge entrepreneurial achievement!

Contact klas.eriksson@hhs.se

See also:
Article on Klas A. M. Eriksson’s dissertation, which was partly about institutional entrepreneurship with Jan Stenbeck in focus.