Try GOLD - Free
Entrepreneur Halla Tómasdóttir takes over as Iceland's president
The Guardian
|August 02, 2024
A feminist entrepreneur who started an investment fund with the musician Björk at the height of Iceland's 2008 financial crisis and gave a Ted talk on applying "feminine values" to finance became her country's president yesterday.
-
Halla Tómasdóttir won more than 34% of the vote in elections in June, beating a crowded field that included Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who resigned as prime minister to run.
Shewill replace Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, who is stepping down after eight years in office despite considerable popularity.
Halla was previously chief executive of The B Team, a non-profit organisation that was co-founded by Sir Richard Branson. She was also the head of Iceland's chamber of commerce and co-founded the now defunct financial services company Auður Capital. She first ran for president eight years ago.
This time Halla, 55, campaigned on issues including artificial intelligence, tourism and the effect of social media on mental health. Afterwards, she said that people had "voted with their hearts".
This story is from the August 02, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Guardian
The Guardian
Garnacho saves sorry Chelsea from shock defeat by Qarabag
Chelsea’s precision is nowhere to be seen when Enzo Maresca rings the changes.
3 mins
November 06, 2025
The Guardian
Lights, camera, tax break The producer churning out flops funded by Treasury
Only the geekiest film buffs will have heard of Alan Latham, but he is one of the UK's most prolific movie producers.
4 mins
November 06, 2025
The Guardian
Academics tell of 'heavy pressure' from China
UK academics whose research is critical of China say they have been targeted and their universities subjected to “extremely heavy” pressure from Beijing, prompting calls for a fresh look at the sector’s dependence on tuition fee income from Chinese students.
3 mins
November 06, 2025
The Guardian
Lammy's luck is facing an opponent who can't count and has lost track of his gotcha moment
He had one job.
2 mins
November 06, 2025
The Guardian
"The money you get in football means the parasites come'
The former West Ham, Chelsea and England footballer, a gifted maverick who always felt a man out of time, playing a game years ahead of most of his contemporaries, smiles when I ask how old he feels now: \"Forty-four. I'm 44 [this Saturday].
6 mins
November 06, 2025
The Guardian
'A true champion' Hope overflows in New York as the outsider candidate claims victory
Zohran Mamdani's election downtown night party in Brooklyn on Tuesday night saw hundreds of his supporters erupt in applause as the democratic socialist from Queens was elected the next mayor of New York City.
4 mins
November 06, 2025
The Guardian
Confusion at the gates Why system can't keep track of inmates
The mistaken release of a second foreign prisoner has forced ministers to once again revaluate their security and release procedures, and will once again shine a spotlight on the well-documented problems at HMP Wandsworth.
2 mins
November 06, 2025
The Guardian
Lammy under pressure after two more prisoners mistakenly freed
David Lammy is under mounting pressure after two more prisoners, including a convicted foreign sex offender, were mistakenly freed days after the justice secretary introduced stringent checks for jails.
4 mins
November 06, 2025
The Guardian
High-speed rail network could cover Europe by 2040, says EU
Breakfast in Berlin, lunch in Copenhagen, with a fast and easy train journey to pass the morning?
2 mins
November 06, 2025
The Guardian
Tale of two city mayors Mamdani joins Khan on divided world stage
While the soon-to-be first Muslim mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, was in the final throes of his mayoral campaign on a brisk day in New York, Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London, was wrapping up a two-day climate summit in a steamy if overcast Rio de Janeiro.
4 mins
November 06, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size