Shipping is by nature an international business, and the shipping business has been known to create – and destroy – large fortunes around the world.
Names such as Møller, Li Ka Shing, Fontbona & Luksic, Kuok, Fredriksen, Oetker, Kuehne, and Aponte rank among some of the most successful family names in the shipping industry.
Kristian Jebsen is also part of a global shipping family phenomenon—that is, Gearbulk. What makes Jebsen’s experience and perspective unique is his own international outlook, education, and experience, as well as how he has added his own strong sense of key business principles to operate the world’s largest fleet of open hatch gantry and jib crane vessels.
Kristian Jebsen has grown his company and taken it into new waters through an almost relentless customer focus; he has a strong and intuitive understanding of the open hatch bulk carrier business and its market cycles, and a firm commitment to organizational quality, hard work, and social commitment.
Mr. Kristian Jebsen, 64, is the chairman and principal owner of Gearbulk Holding AG, the world’s largest bulk shipping company within the so-called open hatch segment. His company specializes in the transportation of paper and pulp and maintains a fleet of around 65 large-bulk carriers. Mr. Jebsen and his three children control 51% of the company, while the Tokyo-based shipping group Mitsui O.S.K. controls the remainder.
Mr. Jebsen’s father, Mr. Kristian Gerhard Jebsen, founded Gearbulk in 1968. When he passed away in 2004, the company was co-managed by Mr. Jebsen and his brother Hans Peter until 2011, when Mr. Jebsen took over the open hatch bulk carrier business while his brother stayed with the tankers, OBOs, and cement carriers. Mr. Jebsen retained the name Gearbulk.
Mr. Jebsen received his undergraduate education from the University of Lausanne and his MBA from Thunderbird in Arizona.
Mr. Jebsen has accumulated diverse job experiences, all within the Gearbulk group: 2 years at the then-headquarters in Bergen, Norway, after completing his studies; 3.5 years in Tokyo; 4 years in Vancouver; and then another 4 years in Bergen. He then spent 14 years at Gearbulk’s new headquarters in London before moving to Switzerland. Gearbulk transferred its headquarters to Pfäffikon outside Zürich in 2015 and moved a large part of its operations to Singapore.
Speed, entrepreneurial attitude, customer focus, and professionalism
Mr. Jebsen is known to be a hands-on CEO with a firm grasp of his B2B business, including a close link to many of its customers. He is known to make decisions relatively quickly, which are often based on, say, an 80-90% completed analysis, while also acknowledging that eventual issues would have to be addressed before concluding a deal. This fast management style – a trademark of Gearbulk’s culture – can be traced back to the founder, who embodied the following traits: entrepreneurial, hardworking, and a strong customer focus, as well as very private and discreet.
In particular, this strong customer focus is considered to be key. Above all, Gearbulk has often been known to seek out new ways to serve key customers, almost as partners. Gearbulk’s large size gives credence to its ability to offer superb service, which should indeed be trusted by its customers.
Mr. Jebsen feels that Gearbulk’s culture is a major strength, not only in terms of its speed, entrepreneurial attitude, customer focus, and reputation for hard work, but also for its professionalism. Mr. Jebsen places key emphasis on attracting new talent, who are typically rather young, often strong in challenging key assumptions, and unafraid to ask difficult questions. Still, he feels there could be less bureaucracy in the organization—maintaining agility is increasingly important!
Organizational homogeneity and internationalism
Gearbulk’s culture is worth further consideration.
Mr. Jebsen and his younger brother have been known to apply rather different management styles—that is, fast, intuitive and entrepreneurial versus highly analytical and, at times, slower. This style difference at the helm of the company was one reason why it was split between them.
Gearbulk’s corporate culture has clearly changed over time. First, moving the headquarters from Bergen to London in 1993 led to a more international culture; the move also allowed the founder to maintain a low profile by being a “relatively small player in a big place, rather than a big player in a small place.” One important motivation was to be able to plan more firmly, in a way that was often not possible in Norway. Tax-planning issues (wealth, inheritance, etc.) were also particularly important.
Then, in 2015, Gearbulk moved its corporate headquarters to Switzerland and some of its operations to Singapore. This relocation was partly driven by cost considerations and partly by tax considerations and a desire for political stability. The operational entity’s relocation was primarily a function of the fact that the world’s economic gravity had moved to Asia; hence, Gearbulk wanted to increase its presence there.
Mr. Jebsen considers the following aspects of business context important:
Acting on major trends (indeed, mega-trends) is crucial. In his business segment, price dynamics and operations have become increasingly commoditized and mature. Price is increasingly becoming the dominant factor for winning business, as opposed to coming up with additional unique or brain-driven approaches. To understand these shifts, Mr. Jebsen emphasizes maintaining a large network of resourceful people with whom to discuss business, and not only shipping to executives or customers. He also emphasizes strategic retreats where lead experts can challenge commonly accepted beliefs. It is imperative to understand what is happening in the technology sector and what impact technology may have on shipping, and on the company’s customers (and their customers in turn). Needless to say, following international and local news in business and politics and reading a lot are highly prioritized.
Second, Mr. Jebsen strongly believes in an open management style (i.e., the broad sharing of key facts).
Third, Mr. Jebsen perceives a certain diminishment in ethical standards, with more and more executives taking an egocentric approach to decision-making (i.e., to primarily benefit themselves rather than the firms by which they are employed). Mr. Jebsen increasingly feels that factors such as the above have led to a decrease in the “joy of doing business.”
Consolidation
Over the years, Gearbulk has been a consolidator in its segment. The most recent consolidation move occurred in 2017 when Gearbulk initiated a strategic alliance with Grieg Star, another player in the open hatch business and a former competitor. Gearbulk has taken a 65% ownership in this joint-venture pool—G2Ocean—which now controls about 60% of the global open hatch fleet. Although technical management, ship management, and corporate functions have remained separate entities, the commercial and operational sides are now fully integrated. Other functions, such as purchasing and IT, have also been integrated. Needless to say, aspects of the two companies’ cultures differ; some of these differences have been reconciled and some will take more time to align, and these organizational frictions are the biggest challenge of the merger so far.
The Family Business Dimension
Mr. Jebsen views his firm as a family business and finds inspiration in this view. He also finds it crucial to preserve financial flexibility and avoid major drawdowns. To remain so heavily invested in an increasingly mature and capital-intensive shipping segment may not be commensurate with such family financial wealth preservation; it might actually be more sensible to bring in a partner, which Mr. Jebsen’s father did in the early 90s.
Through the creation of G2Ocean, Gearbulk has become more of a holding company and a more “interesting” player in its segment, which again introduces the possibility of a more liquid shareholding.
All three of Mr. Jebsen’s children have shares in Gearbulk, but Mr. Jebsen has control; growing up, none of them were very heavily involved, and in retrospect, Mr. Jebsen regrets that he did not involve them more. One of them has worked in the company and is presently completing an MBA, and the other two have chosen educations in teaching and journalism. As shareholders, they now follow the business.
Hobbies
Mr. Jebsen is a keen photographer and has found that it is relatively easy for him to combine this hobby with the extensive travel schedule he typically undertakes. He uses state-of-the-art digital cameras; for his 60th birthday, his wife Ana published a book featuring a collection of his best photos that cover inspirations from all over the world, including Antarctica.
Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation
The Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation’s primary focus is on health, education, and social issues but also supports culture and art. Mr. Jebsen is its chairman, and nutritional health is a key interest for him. This not only includes research but also education and advocacy.
For instance, the foundation has sponsored two professorial chairs: one at EPFL (the Federal Technical University in Lausanne) in nutrition and metabolism, and one at CHUV (the University Hospital in Lausanne) in palliative care.
A recent engagement has included the reduction of single-use plastic and plastic waste in the ocean; this commitment also fits well with the business’ origins. Its cooperation with eight other foundations in the Plastic Solution Fund is a major initiative in this area.
Mr. Jebsen has a strong social commitment and would like to spend more time on his philanthropic and social entrepreneurship activities going forward.
* It should be noted that there is a second foundation with the same name as Mr. Jebsen’s father, based in Bergen, but the two are independent of each other.
Key Strengths
In my humble opinion, the following five key strengths might, in particular, provide an accurate snapshot of Mr. Jebsen:
A strong customer focus, which is the centerpiece of his hands-on business philosophy;
A unique understanding of all aspects of the “open hatch” bulk carrier business, with particular emphasis on taking advantage of industry market cycles due to supply vs. demand imbalances;
A working style that might be summed up as “working very hard” with a total commitment to Gearbulk’s business;
A recognition that the core qualities of Gearbulk’s organization are professionalism, internationalism, openness, entrepreneurship, and agility (Mr. Jebsen “lives” these strengths himself); and
A strong social commitment, primarily through leading the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation. This commitment is a reflection of a good work–life balance, where his other life interests also come in.
We wish to thank Kristian Jebsen for sharing his perspectives with the Lorange Network community.
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