Farmed salmon pioneer Jacob Stolt-Nielsen, passed away on Sunday at his home in Oslo, Norway. He was 83 years old.
The company that he founded in 1972, Stolt Sea Farm, is recognized as a leader in high-tech aquaculture, focusing on sole, turbot and sturgeon for caviar. In a statement, Stolt-Nielsen Limited referred to him as an “extraordinary man” with “boundless enthusiasm and energy.”
The entrepreneur also founded Parcel Tankers in 1959 and pioneered the global trade for liquid chemicals, ultimately building what is today the world's largest chemical tanker company, Stolt Tankers. In 1971, he founded Stolthaven Terminals, which today operates 20 bulk-liquid storage facilities worldwide. In 1973, he established Stolt-Nielsen Seaway A/S to provide diving and subsea services to the offshore oil and gas industry in the North Sea, an operation that later evolved into Stolt Offshore, a billion-dollar company, now part of Subsea 7. In 1982, he founded Stolt Tank Containers, now the world's largest tank container operator. He was a co-founder and the first chairman of Det Norske Oljeselskap (DNO).
Stolt-Nielsen served as chairman of the board of directors of Stolt-Nielsen from the time that he founded the company in 1959 until 15 December, 2009, when he stepped down, but remained as a director until his retirement in December 2014. He held the position of CEO from 1959 until 2000.
Stolt-Nielsen Limited today employs more than 5,000 people in 42 offices around the world.
Stolt-Nielsen leaves behind his wife of 58 years, two daughters, two sons and 13 grandchildren.
