Tetra Pak billionaire Hans Rausing dies aged 93 after helping build his father’s milk carton business into a £9.8bn empire and enduring drugs tragedy of his son
- His children said the entrepreneur died in his sleep at his home in Wadhurst Park
- The son of Ruben Rausing, he co-inherited the company Tetra Pak from his father
- Mr Rausing moved to an estate in Sussex to avoid Swedish taxes in 1982
Swedish billionaire Hans Rausing, whose co-inheritance of the Tetra Pak packaging firm saw his family become one of the richest in Britain, has died at the age of 93.
Mr Rausing’s children said in a statement that the industrialist and entrepreneur died in his sleep at his home Wadhurst Park, East Sussex, on Friday, with his wife Marit at his side.
The son of Ruben Rausing, he co-inherited the company from his father and held roles as chief executive and chairman of Tetra Pak, which later became the Tetra Laval group.
Hans Rausing holding some Tetra Pak packaging (pictured in August 2007)
Hans Rausing, co-inheritor of the Tetra Pak packaging company, at his home in East Sussex, 21st March 2002
Hans ran the packaging firm from 1950 until 1995, when he retired selling his share of the business to his brother Gad Rausing for around £5.7bn.
Mr Rausing moved to an estate in Sussex to avoid Swedish taxes in 1982, creating a deer park and pursuing his interests in sporting and country life.
He and his brother Gad toppled the Queen from the Sunday Times Rich List in 1994 thanks to their food packaging and equipment empire, before Mr Rausing sold his share to Gad in 1995.
Known for his charitable pursuits, Mr Rausing was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2006 for his philanthropic services.
These included a donation of £2.5 million to Cambridge University for a new maths centre in 1997, which Professor Stephen Hawking said he was ‘absolutely delighted’ by.
Hans and his wife Marit Rausing. The Rausing Family (pictured in 2000s)
His family claim the total value of their donations since 1998 have exceeded £1 billion.
In a joint statement, his children Lisbet, Sigrid and Hans Kristian said: ‘Our father was an extraordinary man, achieving so many things in his long and distinguished career as entrepreneur and industrialist, and then as a philanthropist supporting multiple charities and foundations.
‘We are very proud of that, but most of all we will cherish our fond memories of him as a loving father and devoted family man.’
He is survived by his three children and seven grandchildren.
In May 2012 Hans Rausing’s drug addicted son, also named Hans, carried out a bizarre and desperate charade for eight weeks after his wife millionairess Eva Rausing’s death by overdose, convincing his servants she was in bed with a fever.
Tetra Pak heir Hans Rausing banned staff from entering the couple’s squalid ‘crack den’ bedroom in their otherwise-immaculate £70million London mansion.
He said she was suffering a fever and he was taking her temperature three times a day. In fact he was covering her rotting body with 12 layers of clothes, blankets and plastic sealed with industrial tape before covering it in deodorant to mask the smell.
By the time police raided the 50-room house in Cadogan Place, Belgravia, 48-year-old Mrs Rausing was so badly decomposed that she had to be identified from a fingerprint and the serial number on her heart pacemaker.