In a Protestant, social-democratic country where egalitarianism rules and materialism is frowned upon, Kjell Inge Roekke is the antithesis of the average Norwegian. He flaunts his glamorous girlfriends, private jet and flashy homes. According to a recent profile by Reuters, there was even a pop song written about his unique manner of mixing business and pleasure. He is also one of Norway?s richest men, generally referred to as a ?gigantomaniac? for his supersized ego, his hair trigger temper and his flamboyant lifestyle. He is also entirely self-made, an epic rags-to-riches story in a country where epics originated. He quit school as a teenager to become a fisherman, moving to Seattle and using his earnings to buy up old boats cheap, and then modifying them so they could operate as trawlers with fish-processing facilities and made a small fortune. By the early 90s, he was homesick and returned to Norway and the country?s corporate sector has never been the same again.

He has single-handedly changed the way business is done in Norway. His holding company, Aker ASA, is the country?s largest private industrial group, with controlling stakes in Det norske, an oil exploring firm, services firm Aker Solutions, heavy equipment maker Kvaerner, plus shippers and fisheries, but it is his latest acquisition, Marathon Oil?s Norwegian business, bought for $1.2 billion, that now makes him the country?s second-largest oil producer behind Statoil. It also demonstrated his aggressive American-style capitalism, which is so contrary to the way Norwegian businessmen generally operate. When Roekke returned to Norway, he set his sights on one of Norway?s most venerable conglomerates, Aker. Before the board was aware of it, Roekke and a partner had bought up 40% of its shares. Four years later, they did the same with Kvaerner. It was the kind of predatory tactics, which were unheard of in Norway in 1995-96. For all his aggressive moves, Roekke has not, as many feared at the time, used the acquisitions to acquire cash by selling off subsidiaries. Every company he has taken over has grown.

That has also led to the gigantomaniac title. Everything in his life must be the biggest or at least the flashiest. He has built the world?s biggest fishing trawler and has made headlines with an ostentatious $90-million yacht and a 217 ft sailboat. His has not been a guilt-free ride. In 2007, he was convicted of bribery and spent 23 days in prison. The day he was released, he spent $3,000 on ordering pizzas for his cellmates. He has since taken on the government that accused him of using unfair business means and emerged unscathed. The former industry minister whom he challenged now works for one of his companies. Yet, not everything he touches turns to gold. In 1997, he bought shares in the Wimbledon Football Club in London, the same borough where the famous tennis tournament is held. He moved it to Milton Keynes, 90 km away from its traditional home, and fans reacted angrily, sending the club into bankruptcy. In a letter he sent to shareholders of Aker, he once wrote: ?(My wife) Anne Grete is totally right when she says I suffer from an incurable disease: gigantomania. We had agreed to build a sailboat of 66. Anne Grete meant 66 ft; naturally, I was thinking in metres.?