Tetra Pak family pours $11.6b into stocks, mostly via Singapore entities

An entity based in the heart of Singapore's financial district emerged as the biggest shareholder in International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) nine years ago.

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KUALA LUMPUR -

It turned out that the owner was the Rausing family, which hails from Sweden and made a fortune from Tetra Pak cartons. It is now also clear that the stake was one of the first public disclosures about how the media-shy clan deploys its billions.

Today, the family has amassed a stock portfolio worth around US$9 billion (S$11.6 billion) and spanning more than 100 companies in Europe and the United States, according to a Bloomberg analysis of regulatory filings.

Through entities in Liechtenstein, Singapore and Switzerland, the Rausings have a US$1.9 billion stake in IFF, US$2.4 billion in industrial-gas company Linde and US$2.2 billion in flavor-maker Givaudan as well as smaller holdings in companies from Apple to Wells Fargo, regulatory filings show.

The scale of these bets, previously unreported, and the entities that hold them highlight the growing sophistication in how some of the world's richest families manage their money, and the broader boom in the family office industry.