Jan Reinås

Jan Reinås (born is a July 19, 1944) is a Norwegian businessperson.

Reinås was Chief Executive Officer of Scandinavian Airlines System from 1993 to 1994 and of Norske Skog from 1994 to 2003. In 2003 he was elected Chairman of the Board of Norsk Hydro [cite web |url=http://www.hydro.com/en/Press-room/News/Archive/2004/March/16522/ |title=Jan Reinås elected as new Chairperson of the Board of Directors in Hydro |author=Norsk Hydro |date=2007-03] . He was forced to withdraw after the options scandal in the company on August 5, 2007 [cite web |url=http://www.hydro.com/en/Press-room/News/Archive/2007/08/17254/ |title=Reinås resigns as Hydro's chairman |author=Norsk Hydro |date=2007-08-05] , after pressure from Minister of Trade and Industry, Dag Terje Andersen (Labour) pressured him to resign his position in the partially state-owned company. Prior to this he has also been Chairman of Sparebanken Midt-Norge, Postverket and Norges Statsbaner.

Controversy

Both as CEO of Norske Skog and as Chairman of Norsk Hydro, Reinås has received criticism for his decisions. In the ten years he led Norske Skog, the company grew enormously, concentrating solely on newsprint and purchasing other plants for NOK 50 billion. At the same time the corporation sold non-newsprint mills, power stations, forest properties and other non-core activities. After Reinås retired, his critics felt that he had left Norske Skog in a strategic impossible situation. The newsprint market was falling constantly, primarily because of over production in North America as well as because of reduced circulation of newspapers. This has left the newsprint market in a cronical overproduction, making profitability impossible. Unlike other large paper corporations, like Stora Enso, Norske Skog was left without other types of paper production to support it. By 2007 the share value was under the 1993 level, and analysts feared bankruptcy if the company did not merge. [cite web |url=http://www.dn.no/forsiden/naringsliv/article1228451.ece?jgo=c1_re&WT.svl=article_title |title=- Det mest idiotiske noen sjef noen gang har gjort |author=Dagens Næringsliv |date=2007-11-13 |language=Norwegian]

References