Learn Christian von Koenigsegg's journey and struggle to gain a massive fortune from his car production. A little wiki/bio for more into this charming personality.
Christian von Koenigsegg definitely rings the bell when you hear the name since his car (actually the car he produced) claimed the Fastest Production Car in the World title with Koenigsegg Agera RS (speed 284.55 mph).
Born on July 2, 1972, he is the founder and CEO of Koenigsegg Automotive AB, a Swedish high-performance automobile manufacturer. The cars are normally designed as a sports car, but given the few numbers of Koenigsegg that exist today, they are only sold to a handful of billionaires to flaunt it as the cover car of their garage.
Remember the brand.
Source: Koenigsegg Official
Christian, along with his wife as the Chief Operating Officer, runs the company that generated revenue only at certain moments per year in the last 20 years. But with his plan to increase the production numbers of the new cars, his net worth is sure to skyrocket in the coming years.
Patience and dedication were key factors for him to succeed in his passion that many rarely do because they give up after not immediately meeting expectations. But he persevered. He worked really hard too, so much so that he lost all his hair on the head and the eyebrows due to a prolonged stress-related disease called alopecia areata.
If He Created Cars in Larger Numbers, Christian von Koenigsegg's Net Worth Would Be Much Higher Than the Current $100 Million
At the age of just 22 years old in 1994, Christian started off on a mission to produce the world's fastest car. He launched the Koenigsegg Project with a friend and his garage in Olofström, Sweden, to work on creating it. After two years of figurative designing, the first Koenigsegg car, one Koenigsegg CC prototype, was publicized in 1996.
The car was made in two years' time.
Source: Koenigsegg Official
The first car sold was a red Koenigsegg CC8S in 2002, only 6 of which were ever made. The company has come far since then, bringing in millions in one sale event. With only about a couple hundred cars sold, Christian amassed a net worth of $100 million as of early 2019.
The first Koenigsegg ever sold.
Source: Koenigsegg Official
As of the most recent news, Koenigsegg launched their latest car, the Koenigsegg Jesko (named after Christian's father, Jesko von Koenigsegg), at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show in March. With a starting price of around $2.8 million, all the 125 build-slots were sold out within days of unveiling.
Millionaires and billionaires are already lined up for the new Koenigsegg Jesko. (Him, his wife and his father at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show)
Source: Koenigsegg Official
The fact that they are not even made makes it quite insane. Production begins in early 2020 with a rate of one car per week target. Buyers are from all over the world, meaning right-sided and left-sided, both, cars will be manufactured. The first test drive was taken by Christian von Koenigsegg himself. Check out the details.
Jesko Was Instrumental in Christian's Success, Lending Him Almost $2 Million in the First Decade
With no automobile background, knowledge or anything of sorts, but only his passion, he used $200,000 of his own money in 1994 to begin that earlier ambition. His father was an industrial-heating-tech executive who loaned him $300,000. He helped Christian more often and didn't even realize he'd already loaned him $2 million by the end of the millennium. That helped massively too.
He received a $150,000 loan from the Swedish Board for Technological Development in 1995. After that, he got 20 more investors to chip in $2 million more in 1999 and thus was able to produce the CC8S for sale in 2003. He's sold stakes of the company back then. Now he has many millionaire companies as stakeholders.
Every car is customized by Koenigsegg.
Source: Florian Thoss, Bloomberg Businessweek
Every car produced is done by the firm's own car parts as they have over 30 patents for them. The company moved its headquarters in 1998 to a farm in Margretetorp, just outside Ängelholm. One of the production facilities caught fire on a Saturday in 2003, and they relocated to an abandoned airbase once used by the Swedish Air Force's "Ghost Squadron," in Ängelholm. The ghost badge was inspired by the significance of the airbase. They now have 225 workers, but according to their new plan, they might want to increase that number.
Despite being a Saturday, the workers were there at the factory to prevent further damage.
Source: Koenigsegg Official
Over the first decade of 2000, the company intentionally produced cars at a slow rate (20 per year) with 51 total units released by 2010. The 47-year-old tried to obtain $1.5 billion worth Sweden's Saab from General Motors in 2009 which fell apart at the last minute after the Swedish government backed out a $600 million loan. But they didn't stop producing cars (at the same rate). The revenue was $17 million in 2015.
In January 2019, Chinese-backed National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) acquired a €150 million (around $171 million) 20% stake of Koenigsegg Automobiles AB so that they could access their facilities in Trollhättan. Furthermore, NEVS will chip in $150 million for a 65% stake while Christian will share his intellectual properties for the remaining 35%.
Plans to Increase Productions to Thousands Per Year to Rival the Likes of Ferrari
Most big car companies like Ferrari and Lamborghini produce thousands of car units each year. In February, Christian announced the initiative to increase the production numbers to 100s of Koenigseggs per year by 2022. An unnamed 'entry level' car is coming out, each tagged $1 million already.
The proposed model will feature a hybrid V-8 engine that produces 1,050 horsepower. It’ll also cost around $1 million, which, if you think about it, barely counts as an “entry-level” model.
Moreover, further future plans involve a serious threat to the market of Ferrari, Bugatti, and Lamborghini. The goal is to eventually take that numbers to thousands. Imagine von Koenigsegg's net worth numbers if that goes all according to the plan.
His Previous Ideas Were All Mocked Which Are Now Billion-Dollar Worth Patents
The guy got his self car-making inspiration from an animated movie at the age of five about a Norwegian bicycle repairman who built a supercar. But he did not start with that idea at first. He went with other technical solutions and designs. At the age of 18, he came up with the Chip Player idea for computer memory chips to store a lot of data. Not one was interested, but we know it is the norm today.
Advised to Watch Till the End: Everything He Did to Raise Money for His Ambition!
In 1991, he invented a quick fix, called Click, to join floor planks without nails or adhesives. His Belgian father-in-law and other floor manufacturers rejected the idea. In 1995, Click! was patented by a Belgian and a Swedish company which made it worth $1 billion by 2009. They essentially took it from him.
It doesn't matter now since his car idea clicked as a legend. Since there were loans in the company's early years, he held only a few percentages of the shares. He estimated eight million shares each worth $2.50 (total $20 million) in 2001 without any debt. After pre-selling his first year's run of 10 cars for $300,000, the company went towards profit.
In 2009, von Koenigsegg held 18% of the shares with Norwegian entrepreneur Bård Ekers holding the highest 49%. Eventually, when the supercars became such a hype in the early 2010s, he was able to buy the shares back from his investors. By 2016, his holding company has over 80% of the car brand. That is until he sold the 20% share to NEVS.
Wife Saved Company Many Times and His Work is His Vacation
The entrepreneur is married to his teenage love Halldora von Koenigsegg, who is an Icelandic, since 2000. They met in 1991 (he was 19) when they were studying in Brussels, Belgium. They have two kids together. Aside from the household, she also has been instrumental in the company's build-up years ago, when they had to make suppliers wait to get paid. She even begged them not to send them to bankruptcy. She is the current COO and the president of Alpraaz, the second company of Christian's first company founded in 1991.
"If I’ve saved the company from death 50 times, so has she," Koenigsegg told Sixtysix Magazine
Source: Weekend Di
While the company is in the countryside, their home is five minutes from the beach. That's their only holiday, reading books and stuff. Since he is doing something he loves, he believes he's "never worked a day in my life." He likes to work under pressure, a reason he lost his facial and head hair (the eyebrows are replaced by tattoos).
They have two sons, Sebastian, 15, and Samuel, 13.
A Look Into Their Garage - They Don't Own a Koenigsegg, but He Drives a Tesla
It takes six months to produce a Koenigsegg, and with more demands than Koenigsegg Automobiles AB is allowed to make, it comes to no surprise (to some), the pair don't own a Koenigsegg themselves. Every one of them is sold, even the prototypes.
The Koenigsegg founder drives around in his Tesla Model S P85 that costs less than $100,000. He admires the brand and got the idea of 'direct drive' from them. He ordered a Tesla Model 3 back in March 2019 which probably made his garage already. In 2018, he was reunited with his black 1992 Mazda MX-5 which he sold ages ago. It's in great condition, but he had to pay extra to get it home.
His first Mazda Miata came back home last year (what a hair back then!).
Source: Christian von Koenigsegg
Meanwhile, Halldora drives her Volvo XC90 and a Porsche 911 Targa. She also has a Land Rover Evoque and an old Mazda MX-5 Miata roadster in her part of the garage. The $1.9 million Regera was inspired by the latter.
Every Koenigsegg Car Prices (Averaging the Price as $2 Million Per Unit)
Data from TopCarRating (The most expensive to cheapest):
| Model | Price | Units Made | Remarks |
| 2016 Koenigsegg Agera One of 1 | $5 Million | *6, + 1 prototype | |
| 2010 Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita | $4.85 Million | 3 | Floyd Mayweather bought one back in 2015 |
| 2009 Koenigsegg NVL Quant | $3 Million | 1 | Solar Concept |
| 2017 Koenigsegg Agera RS | $3-4 Million | *25 | The Fastest Production Car in the World |
| 2018 Koenigsegg Agera Final | $3-4 Million | 3 | |
| 2020 Koenigsegg Jesko | $2.8-3 Million | 125 planned | |
| 2008 Koenigsegg CCXR Edition | $2,500,000 | 4 | |
| 2014 Koenigsegg Agera One: 1 | $2.5 Million | *6, + 1 prototype | |
| 2011 Koenigsegg Agera R Oman | $2.5 Million | *18 | |
| 2017 Koenigsegg Agera RS (1 MW Upgrade) | $2.2 Million | *25 | |
| 2015 Koenigsegg Agera RS | $2 Million | *25 | |
| 2015/2016 Koenigsegg Regera | $2 Million | *80 planned | Concept car |
| 2011 Koenigsegg CCXS | $2 Million | NA | |
| 2009 Koenigsegg CCXR Special Edition | $2 Million | 2 | |
| 2017 Koenigsegg Regera | $1.9 Million | *80 planned | Concept Car |
| 2013 Koenigsegg Agera R | $1.7 Million | *18 | |
| 2011 Koenigsegg Agera R | $1.65 Million | *18 | |
| 2008 Koenigsegg CCX Edition | $1.59 Million | 2 | |
| 2007 Koenigsegg CCGT | $1.5 Million | 1 | Only for Competing in the FIA GT1 |
| 2013 Koenigsegg Agera S | $1.46 Million | 5 | |
| 2007 Koenigsegg CCXR | $1.3 Million | 8 | |
| 1996 Koenigsegg CC | $1 Million | 1 prototype | The first Koenigsegg car to be produced |
| 2010 Koenigsegg Agera Prototype (#077) | $850,000 | 1 prototype | |
| 2000 Koenigsegg CC Concept (XX1) | $700,000 | 0 | Concept car |
| 2004 Koenigsegg CCR | $650,000 | 14 | |
| 2010 Koenigsegg CCR Evolution Edo Competition Evo 817 | $610,000 | NA | |
| 2002 Koenigsegg CC8S | $580,000 | 6 | First one to be sold |
| 2006 Koenigsegg CCX | $540,000 | NA out of 29 from 2006 - 2010 |
* If the numbers are the same, they are the total of the type, not individual numbers.
There are big things to come for the charming personality that is of von Koenigsegg. Maybe someday, with a proper business model, he'll be a billionaire.
Stay tuned with celeb$fortune for more Net Worth content.
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