Hans Rausing

Hans Rausing, the former chief executive and chairman of Tetra Pak, the Swedish packaging company that filled supermarket aisles worldwide with paperboard containers of milk, juice and other products, died on Aug. 30 2019 at his estate in Wadhurst Park, East Sussex, in the south of England. He was 93. Mr. Rausing, whose father, Ruben, founded Tetra Pak, led the company with his brother Gad for more than 30 years as its work force grew from a handful of people in Sweden to some 36,000. One of the wealthiest people in Britain, Mr. Rausing moved there in 1982 to avoid Sweden’s higher tax rates. Father founded packaging giant Tetra Laval in 1944. Hans and brother Gad inherited the business. Hans sold his share to Gad for estimated $7 billion in 1995. Moved to U.K. in early 1980s to avoid punitive Swedish taxes. Invests in Ecolean, maker of environmentally friendly packaging material. Resides on a 900-acre estate in village of Wadhurst in East Sussex; collects vintage cars. Awarded an honorary knighthood for his services to charity in 2006. Apparently a generous contributor to the British conservative party. Stands 6'8" tall; speaks fluent Russian. His Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project at the University of London, supports research, training, and archiving of endangered languages. Hans' daughter Lisbet is director of Arcadia charitable trust; daughter Sigrid runs Portobello Books and Granta magazine. Son Hans-Kristian has kept a a low profile after he and his wife avoided prosecution on charges of cocaine and heroin possession in 2008. In 2012, Hans-Kristian pleaded guilty to the charge of preventing the decent and lawful burial of his wife, Eva. She had died at the couple’s house in London, but her body was not discovered by police until weeks later, after Hans Kristian Rausing was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. (He received a 12-month prison sentence, which was suspended.) In addition to his children Sigrid and Hans Kristian, Mr. Rausing is survived by his wife, Marit; another daughter, Lisbet; and seven grandchildren. Gad Rausing died in 2000. Another brother, Sven, died in 2003.