Viktor Jacobsson
Born 1981 · Age 44
Swedish entrepreneur and co‑founder of Klarna (2005). Creative director with global agency experience; has remained an active investor in Klarna via secondary purchases and SPVs, retaining a multi‑hundred‑million to billion‑dollar stake.
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Life & Career Timeline
Earned Master of Science, Stockholm School of Economics (estimate)
Completed Master of Science at the Stockholm School of Economics (education listed; graduation year estimated based on birth year and career timeline).
Co‑founded Klarna
Co‑founded Klarna in Stockholm; company pioneered the 'buy now, pay later' model for e‑commerce.
Klarna pioneering 'buy now, pay later' model
Klarna established itself as a buy‑now, pay‑later (BNPL) payments provider, offering payment processing and customer payments handling for online stores.
Began/expanded global creative career
Began or expanded a global creative leadership career working with major brands and agencies (profile cites work for Apple, Nike, Google, and others across Stockholm, London, New York and Los Angeles). Year estimated based on '18 years experience' note.
Departed Klarna (left operational role)
Left day‑to‑day role at Klarna in 2012 but retained an ownership stake and rights related to secondary share purchases.
Transition to creative and agency roles
After leaving Klarna, focused on creative leadership positions and agency work across major global markets (Stockholm, London, New York, Los Angeles).
Recognized as established creative leader (approx.)
By the mid‑2010s Jacobsson was an experienced creative director working with global brands (timing estimated from later '18 years experience' citation).
Klarna gains major public attention (context)
Klarna grew into a major fintech challenger by this period; media profile pieces on Klarna executives and strategy increased (contextual milestone for founder network).
Klarna handled ~US$80 billion in online sales
Klarna reported processing approximately US$80 billion in online sales in 2021, demonstrating major scale of the business.
Klarna peak valuation (~$45.6B)
Klarna's peak reported valuation was approximately $45.6 billion in 2021 (Wikipedia citation).
Klarna raised $1 billion at $31 billion valuation
Klarna raised $1 billion in new funding at a reported $31 billion valuation (press coverage Mar 1, 2021). The raise created billionaires among two of the three co‑founders per coverage.
Private investors valued Klarna at $6.7 billion
Private secondary transactions or investor marks in 2022 placed a $6.7B valuation on Klarna per reporting.
Reported retained stake ~9% (estimated)
Sources report Jacobsson retained roughly a 9% stake in Klarna. At a $6.7B valuation this stake would be worth ~US$603M.
Continued creative leadership; joined Uber as Creative Director (profiled)
Profiles list Viktor Jacobsson as Creative Director at Uber based in Amsterdam; previously worked across Stockholm, London, New York and Los Angeles. (Listed as 'currently works at Uber' on Cannes Lions profile; year assigned as recent.)
Klarna operational scale: 90M customers, 200k merchants, 1M transactions/day
Report cited Klarna with approximately 90 million customers, over 200,000 merchants and at least 1,000,000 transactions per day (figures reported in coverage of Klarna's growth).
Profiled as one of Klarna's largest shareholders; stake accumulation scrutinized
Reporting highlighted Jacobsson as one of the largest shareholders in Klarna ahead of an IPO, and discussed how his shares are held via multiple corporate entities and SPVs.
Reported corporate governance tensions at Klarna
Coverage noted tensions when Sequoia (22% owner) failed to remove former leader Michael Moritz as chair, highlighting governance issues including 'special voting rights' and 'shadow governance structures'. Jacobsson's holdings and voting arrangements were part of the scrutiny.
Klarna described as a fully licensed bank in Europe
Reports describe Klarna as a fully licensed bank in Europe offering checking accounts, savings and debit cards (milestone for the company; no precise licensing date provided in the text).
Public report: strategic investments in Klarna via SPVs
Sigma reported Jacobsson has quietly been amassing a significant stake in Klarna through special purpose vehicles, using rights of first refusal to buy secondary shares ahead of an expected IPO.
Ongoing secondary share purchases via SPVs (multi‑year activity)
Reporting indicates Jacobsson used rights of first refusal and special purpose vehicles over multiple years to accumulate shares on the secondary market; exact dates/transactions are opaque because holdings are through corporate entities.
Investors in Klarna named in reporting
Public reporting lists major investors in Klarna including Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer, Silver Lake, Bestseller Group, Visa and Ant Group (contextual milestone for investor base).
Reported potential stake value if IPO at $15B (estimate)
If Jacobsson held ~9% going into a $15B IPO, that stake would be worth ~US$1.35B—an estimate used to contextualize his potential net worth at the planned IPO valuation.
Public recognition: Cannes Lions jury profile
Cannes Lions publishes a profile stating Viktor Jacobsson is an award‑winning creative leader with global experience and lists him as Creative Director at Uber (the profile reflects industry recognition and juror/awards involvement).
Klarna employee count (major company milestone)
Klarna reported having more than 5,000 employees, with headquarters in Stockholm and offices including Berlin (company scale milestone).
IPO filing delayed (April 2025)
Klarna delayed its planned April 2025 US IPO filing; reporting attributes the delay to the 2025 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico (per the provided text).
Planned American IPO filing (April 2025) at projected $15B valuation
Klarna initially planned to file for an American IPO in April 2025 with a projected valuation of $15 billion (roughly one‑third of its 2021 peak).
Real‑time net worth estimate published: $1.19B (08/16/2025)
RealtimeBillionaires profile lists Viktor Jacobsson's net worth at approximately $1.19 billion as of August 16, 2025.
Key Achievement Ages
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