Kathrine Astrup Fredriksen is a Norwegian shipping heiress and a board director of SeaDrill, Deep Sea Supply, Frontline, Independent Tankers Corporation and Golar Liquefied Natural Gas.
Background
She is heiress to her family’s shipping fortune, valued at $16.4 billion by Forbes Magazine in 2013, which makes her father John Fredriksen the world"s 48th richest person. Kathrine was born in London, England, the daughter of shipping-tycoon John Fredriksen and art-collector Inger Astrup Fredriksen. Together with her twin sister Cecilie, she grew up in their family homes in London, Cyprus, Spain and Oslo.
When Kathrine was 23, her mother died from cancer.
Education
Fredriksen studied at Wang Handelsgymnas in Oslo before moving to Great Britain to continue her education at the European School in London from 2002-2005. She graduated with a degree in Management.
Career
The same year the Fredriksen-family donated 50 million NOK to cancer research. After finishing her degree in business management, Fredriksen spent extensive time in Asia to learn more about the shipping business. In 2014 Fredriksen and her family were listed as the 6th richest people in Britain with a combined wealth of £9.25bn on The Sunday Times Rich List.
James Winchester, a veteran shipping analyst at Lazard Frères has said of him, "He"s a modern-day Onassis.
The tanker king. He landed squarely in the sweet spot of the tanker cycle, with the largest fleet of ships." In 2001 an article on Forbes.com described him as having "a tanker fleet bigger than anything Aristotle Onassis ever had." in Forbes Magazine. In 2009 Fredriksen was named one of the world’s most promising female heiresses by Forbes Magazine.
She is known for being very private and rarely speaks to the press Fredriksen holds directorships on several boards: SeaDrill: Director of the Board since September 2008 Golar Liquefied Natural Gas: Director of the Board since February 2008 Golar Liquefied Natural Gas Energy Limited: Director of the Board Deep Sea Supply: Director of the Board since May 2009 Independent Tankers Corporation: Director of the Board Frontline: Director of the Board Fredriksen has expressed a keen interest in art, design and fashion and is on the council of Serpentine Gallery.
In 2012 Fredriksen started working with the Georgian-born London based fashion designer David Koma, who graduated with a distinction in Master of Arts from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2009.
Membership
In February 2008 she became a board member of Frontline, one of the world"s largest shipping companies.