He enjoys a life of luxury and a generous net worth estimated at £3.8billion – yet a Norwegian fishing farm heir insisted he was just a “normal guy” and that he was “very happy and grateful to have grown up without money”.
Gustav Magnar Witzøe, 29, was named by Forbes as the world’s youngest male billionaire in 2018 after his father Gustav Witzoe senior gifted nearly half of the Salmar ASA fishing farm to his son in 2013.
The model grew up on Frøya, a small island off the northwest coast of Norway, with her mother Oddny working as a caregiver, while in 1991 Gustav Snr founded his company, which would later become the one of the largest salmon producers in the world.
Talk to The telegraphGustav Junior, who lives alone in the city of Trondheim, stressed how happy and “grateful” he is to have lived a simple childhood without money.
But the heir isn’t shy about sharing glimpses of his lavish lifestyle on Instagram, from first-class trips to the Cannes Film Festival to vacations at Lake Como and drives along the coast in the vintage Aston Martin of his father.
He enjoys a life of luxury and a generous net worth estimated at £3.8billion – yet a Norwegian fishing farm heir has insisted he is just a ‘normal guy’ and that he was ‘very happy and grateful to have grown up without money’ (pictured in Venice earlier this summer)
Gustav Magnar Witzøe, 29, was named by Forbes as the world’s youngest male billionaire in 2018 after his father Gustav Witzoe senior gifted almost half of the Salmar ASA fishing farm to his son in 2013
The Norwegian heir loves to delight his Instagram followers with snaps from his vacation, like this trip to Lake Como earlier this summer
“Maybe it would have been different if I had grown up with money, but since we didn’t when I was a kid, I’m very happy about it. It was just a normal family and down to earth, and I think those are values that I will take with me,’ he told the publication.
The heir, who describes himself as an investor, model and philanthropist, said he was “a normal guy, loves football, loves training, parties once in a while, loves hanging out friends”.
Despite his life of luxury, Gustav still visits his parents weekly and still sees his childhood friends on the small island of Frøya, where he grew up.
Gustav’s father founded Salmar ASA in 1991 with 11 employees and a few boats, and profits skyrocketed when the company went public in 2007.
It is now the second largest producer of Atlantic salmon in the world and it harvested 198,200 tonnes of fish last year.
At the age of 18, Gustav senior made his son the main shareholder of the company for inheritance rights reasons, but the model still considers Salmar to be his father’s company and not involved. in the daily management of operations.
The model grew up on Frøya, a small island off the northwest coast of Norway, with her mother Oddny working as a caregiver, while in 1991 Gustav Snr founded his company, which would later become the one of the largest salmon producers in the world.
With a penchant for vintage cars, Gustav likes to take his father’s Aston Martin for drives along the coast
He has no plans to take over the family business anytime soon and said he has other things going on at the moment.
But it wasn’t always glitz and glamor for the wealthy heir, who had to gain first-hand knowledge of the family business.
After high school, Gustav revealed that he skipped college and instead took up work on salmon farms for two years to learn the trade.
While he said he loves the physical work of farms, these days his Instagram account is full of vacation snaps from Italy, France, Dubai and more, mixed with Vogue Scandinavia photo shoots and photos from other modeling gigs.
He was encouraged to start modeling by a friend and is currently signed to Idol Looks and Next Models Worldwide, saying the job is fun and helps him come out of his shell.
While documenting his luxurious lifestyle on Instagram, Gustav said he was happy to have had a humble childhood away from the spotlight.
While he said he loved the physical work of farms, these days his Instagram account is full of vacation snaps from Italy, France, Dubai and more, mixed with photo shoots from Vogue Scandinavia and photos from other modeling gigs.
He said that while he doesn’t hide who he is, few people he’s worked with on fashion shoots recognize him.
Professionally, in addition to posing for the cameras, Gustav enjoys investing in start-ups through his company Wiski Capital, and seems to value the advice of his parents more than his real advisers.
He also runs a charitable foundation, the W Initiative, a philanthropic foundation he set up last year that focuses on children’s health and education.
The nonprofit’s first project is to provide access to clean water and sanitation to more than 4,000 children in Uganda.
In his spare time, Gustav said he trains nine times a week and put his holidays behind him.
He said he would rather spend time with loved ones than dance the night away in clubs and he doesn’t go out much anymore.
Gustav used to be a party animal, but now prefers to have a good time with his family and friends
That’s a far cry from his late teens, when he served two weeks in prison at the age of 19 after driving 180 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.
Speaking about his father’s business in 2018, 25-year-old Gustav was already showing he didn’t feel entitled to lay claim to the family fortune.
Speaking to Norwegian newspaper Dagblade, he explained: ‘You can’t just demand to be the boss of such a big organisation. You have to adapt to it. If there are alternatives, the best man or woman must get the job. There is so much at stake – values, jobs, crucial factors.
Instead, he invested in start-ups including Norwegian Snapchat challenger Gobiand and Airbnb hospitality service Keybutler.
According Business InternGustav’s father previously spoke of the “long discussions” his family had about putting his then 19-year-old son in charge of his actions.
Witzøe, who still runs the business, reportedly said: “There are pros and cons. It can affect you in many ways, both good and bad. It could affect relationships with friends.
In addition to photos from his luxury travels, Gustav also shared his plush transportation, which includes a Porsche, private plane and boat, and snaps of his dog.
Gustav had already told Dagbladet his fortune: “They [my parents] think they should have taken more time to think about it. It’s probably due to the fact that I was put in the public spotlight. It was very strange at first. It makes you a little nervous about what people think.
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