Jacob Wallenberg does not like the word flip-flop to describe his bank's strategy. In fact, he comes back to that word three times in the interview. But he does so in such a charming, jolly way, that by the end of the interview in the forbidding headquarters of Sweden's third largest bank by assets, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) of which he is chairman, I am (almost) a convert.
This man is a leader. He breezes in, fresh-faced and blue-eyed, and in his American-accented English with a hint of Swedish, says: "Super. Let's roll!" I can imagine him inspiring the sailors during his stint in the navy, as well as bank staff and employees in Investor AB, the holding company in which the Wallenberg family groups its stakes in blue-chip Swedish multinationals, including companies like Ericsson, AstraZeneca and ABB.
