Marcus Wallenberg

Wallenberg was born on 5 October 1899, in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Marcus Wallenberg and his wife Amalia (née Hagdahl) and brother of Jacob Wallenberg. He passed studentexamen in 1917, became a reserve officer in 1919, and graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics in 1920. Wallenberg pursued banking studies and had various jobs in Geneva, London, New York City, Paris, and Berlin from 1920 to 1925. Wallenberg was an avid tennis player and became Swedish indoor champion in singles game for gentlemen in tennis in 1920 and 1926.

Wallenberg became assistant director of Stockholms Enskilda Bank in 1925 and was Vice CEO and member of the board there from 1927. Wallenberg was during the early 1930s board member of Järnvägs AB Stockholm–Saltsjön, AB Atlas Diesel, Investor AB, AB Diligentia, Rederi AB Tanker, ASEA, AB Elektro-Invest and Trafik AB Stockholm-Björknäs. He was also a member of the council of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. He was in the late 1930s, chairman of the board of AB Atlas-Diesel, AB Lauxein-Casco, Hults Bruks AB, Industri AB Furuplywood and Trafik AB Stockholm-Björknäs. Wallenberg was also vice chairman of Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson and board member of AB Diligentia, Electro-Invest, AB Förenade Flygverkstäderna, AB Nordströms Linbanor, AB Scania-Vabis, AB Svenska Järnvägsverkstäderna, ASEA, Ericsson Telephones Limited, Järnvägs AB Stockholm–Saltsjön, Mexican Telephone and Telegraph Co., Plantagengesellschaft Clementina, Società Elettro-Telefónica Meridionale, Società Esercizi Telefonici and the Federation of Swedish Industries (Sveriges Industriförbund). He was also chairman of the Swedish Lawn Tennis Association (Svenska Lawntennisförbundet) and the Sailing Association Havsörnarna.

Wallenberg was in the mid-1940s the chairman of AB Atlas Diesel, Hults Bruks AB, Igelsta Trävaru AB, Järnvägs AB Stockholm–Saltsjön, Mexikandra Telefon AB and Max Sieverts Fabriks AB. He was vice chairman of Halmstad-Nässjö Järnvägs AB, Goodyear Gummi Fabrik AB, AB Papyrus, Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB, Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson and Yngeredsfors Kraft AB. Wallenberg was also board member of ASEA, Björneborgs Jernverks AB, AB Aerotransport, AB Diligentia, AB Elektro-Invest, AB Nordströms Linbanor, AB Scania-Vabis, AB Svenska Amerika Linien, AB Svenska Järnvägsverkstäderna, AB Svenska Maskinverken, AB Svenska Ostasiatiska Kompaniet, Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB, SAAB, Wifstavarfs AB, Banque d'État du Maro, Mexican Telephone & Telegraph Co., Federation of Swedish Industries, Swedish Bankers' Association (Svenska Bankföreningen), Swedish National Commission for International Business (Svenska nationalkommissionen för internationella näringsfrågor) and the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology.

From 1933 onward, he was also a member of the Arbitration Committee of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). During and prior to the Second World War, he was involved in negotiations regarding Swedish foreign trade with Nazi Germany. The Wallenberg empire’s close economic collaboration with the Nazis (e.g., between Stockholm’s Enskilda Bank and the Bosch Group) sparked controversy.

He was chairman of the Swedish representatives on the permanent Swedish-British Intergovernmental Commission from 1939 to 1943 and member of the permanent Swedish-British-American Intergovernmental Commission from 1943 and the Swedish Commission for the Swedish-Finnish trade negotiations from 1940 to 1944. He was also board member of the Swedish-English Association (Svensk-Engelska Föreningen) and chairman of the Swedish Tennis Association (Svenska Tennisförbundet) from 1934 to 1953. In 1946, Wallenberg became CEO of Stockholms Enskilda Bank. He held the post until 1958 when he became vice chairman of the board. During the 1950s, he was chairman of the board of AB Atlas Diesel, LM Ericsson, Scandinavian Airlines and the Swedish Bankers' Association. Wallenberg was a board member of ASEA (chairman from 1956), Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB, Federation of Swedish Industries (vice chairman from 1959, chairman 1962-1964) and the International Chamber of Commerce as well as chairman of its Swedish National Committee from 1951 to 1964 (honorary chairman from 1964) and was CEO of the English-Swedish Chamber of Commerce from the 1954. Wallenberg was also chairman of the Royal Lawn Tennis Club (Kungliga Lawn Tennis Klubben) and he became honorary chairman of the Swedish Tennis Association in 1953.

Wallenberg was chairman of the Swedish Bankers' Association twice, 1949-1951 and 1955-1957 and chairman of the Research Institute of Industrial Economics from 1950 to 1975 (honorary chairman from 1975). He was chairman of the Council of European Industrial Federations (CEIF) from 1960 to 1963 and in the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) from 1962 to 1964. Wallenberg was a member of the Economic Planning Council (Ekonomiska planeringsrådet) from 1962 to 1964 and chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce from 1965 to 1967. He was a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group from 1954 to his death in 1982. He was also a board member of Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Nobel Foundation. Wallenberg co-chaired the ICC-UN/GATT Economic Consultative Committee from 1969 to 1971. In 1969, he left the post of vice chairman of Stockholms Enskilda Bank and became chairman for two years until 1971 when the bank merged with Skandinaviska Banken and formed Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken. Wallenberg was chairman there from 1972 to 1976.

He was the father of Marc Wallenberg (1924–1971; who in turn was the father of Marcus Wallenberg), Peter Wallenberg Sr. (1926–2015) and Ann-Mari Wallenberg (1929–2019) in his first marriage (1923–1935) with Dorothy Mackay (1900–1984) from Scotland, the daughter of Alexander C.A. Mackay and Edith Bums. In 1936 he married Baroness Marianne De Geer af Leufsta (born 1893), the daughter of chamberlain Baron Louis de Geer af Leufsta and Baroness Märtha Cederström. Marianne had previously been married to Carl Bernadotte af Wisborg.