Ivar Kreuger, Scandinavian History, Biographies

Related Category: Scandinavian History, Biographies

Ivar Kreuger[E´vAr krOO´gur] Pronunciation Key, 1880–1932, Swedish financier. After studying engineering in Stockholm and engaging in construction enterprises in the United States, he returned to Sweden and organized the firm of Kreuger and Toll. In 1913 he began to form a trust to control all aspects of the production of matches in Sweden, and later throughout the world; it eventually became a huge international finance agency. Speculation and fraudulent practices during the 1920s wrecked the trust and led to Kreuger's suicide. Much of his money was obtained from U.S. backers.

See studies by A. Churchill (1957) and R. Shaplen (1960).