Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen

Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen (born January 23, 1965) is a Norwegian business leader. Since 1996 he has served as director of Stolt-Nielsen S.A. (SNSA),^[1] a trans-national seafood company, and since 2000 he has been the company's chief executive officer,^[1] taking over after his father, Jacob Stolt-Nielsen.

Family

Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen is the son of Jacob Stolt-Nielsen, a Norwegian entrepreneur and business executive who founded SNSA and still serves as its chairman. Jacob Stolt-Nielsen is widely credited with inventing the modern parcel tanker.^{[citation needed]} He also founded Stolt Offshore S.A. and Stolt Sea Farm. Niels' brother, Jacob B. Stolt-Nielsen, serves as a director of SNSA and previously held a number of management positions at the company.

Education and career

Stolt-Nielsen has a BS degree in Business and Finance from Hofstra University in 1990.^[1] He joined Stolt-Nielsen S.A. in 1990 beginning as a shipbroker in Greenwich, Connecticut and then as a round voyage manager.^[1] In 1994 he opened and organized the company's representative office in Shanghai, China.

He served as Interim chief executive officer of Stolt Offshore S.A. from September 2002 until March 2003. He held the position of chief executive officer of Stolt Sea Farm from 1996 until September 2001.

Charges of business improprieties

The company Stolt-Nielsen willingly entered The United States Department of Justice amnesty program in January 2003, on condition that it fully disclose to the government the operating activities of its competitors and partners.^[2] The result of this disclosure led to two companies, Odfjell og JO Tankers, admitting to illegal price fixing and subsequent fines and criminal charges were handed down. Shortly after, the DOJ, in an unprecedented move, rescinded its amnesty and withdrew from the agreement in March 2004, notifying Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen and his father Jacob Stolt-Nielsen that they were individually also targeted by this action.^[2] Stolt-Nielsen responded through filing civil complaints against the government arguing that the DOJ had illegally breached its contract with Stolt-Nielsen by withdrawing amnesty. The resulting trial in 2005 ruled unanimously in favor of Stolt-Nielsen and its executives and issued injunctions restricting the DOJ from indicting the company and found that the DOJ had not provided sufficient proof that Stolt-Nielsen was in breach of contract.^[3][4]

The indictment against Stolt-Nielsen, its subsidiaries, principals and employees was dismissed by a federal appeals court in Philadelphia PA on or about 21 December 2007.

Tax problems

In 2001 Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen notified Norwegian authorities that he was living abroad having his residence in London. He then stopped paying taxes in Norway. The tax authorities contested this in 2001, however due to a clerical error Stolt-Nielsen's assertion was accepted for the 2002 - 2004 tax returns. In 2005 this error was discovered. The tax authorities were subsequently sued by Stolt-Nielsen. In a lower court ruling in November 2007 Stolt-Nielsen lost on all counts as the court noted that he had a permanent residence at Frogner in Oslo as well as a country home, private airplane, bank accounts and club memberships which combine to attest a strong connection to Norway.^[5]

Other positions

• Director of Stolt Offshore S.A. (until 2005)
• Interim CEO, Stolt Offshore S.A (September 2002 – March 2003)
• CEO, Stolt Sea Farm (1996 – September 2001)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} White paper on STOLT NIELSEN S A from Edgar online
2. ^ ^{a b} "Nye rettsrunder for Stolt-Nielsen" (in Norwegian). E24. June 11, 2007. http://e24.no/naeringsliv/article1829818.ece. Retrieved 2007-07-13. 
3. ^ "Court reverses injunction blocking Stolt-Nielsen indictment". MarineLog. March 23, 2006. http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMVI/2006mar00235.html. Retrieved 2008-04-27. 
4. ^ Anti-Trust Law Blog
5. ^ Herland, Jon (November 15, 2007). "Fullt tap for Stolt-Nielsen" (in Norwegian). E24. http://e24.no/lov-og-rett/article2102883.ece. Retrieved 2008-04-17. 

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Name	Stolt-Nielsen, Niels G.
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Date of birth	January 23, 1965
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