Background and career
Petter Anker Stordalen Bjorvand (born 29 November 1962) is a Norwegian businessman. With an estimated net worth of US$1.6 billion as of 2025, he is the owner of the Strawberry Group, a conglomerate of ten companies with holdings in hotels, shopping centers, real estate, finance, and art. Through Strawberry Hospitality Group, he owns Strawberry (formerly known as Nordic Choice Hotels), consisting of over 230 hotels and 17,000 employees. In the later stages of his career, Stordalen had pursued philanthropic endeavors alongside his wife, doctor, and environmentalist Gunhild Stordalen; through their Stordalen Foundation, established in 2011, they have donated large amounts of money to various scientific research programs and charities focused on addressing climate change. He has been a co-owner of SunClass Airlines since 2019.
Petter Anker Stordalen Bjorvand was born in Porsgrunn on 29 November 1962, the son of Kari and Knut Anker Stordalen (1933–1994). At the age of 12, he began selling strawberries at the local market. In 1974, the local Porsgrunns Dagblad newspaper named him Norway's top strawberry seller. Following high school, he attended Kjøpmannsinstituttet for one year, then managed his father's store for a short time before joining the Norwegian School of Marketing.
At 24, he took over what was, at the time, the largest shopping center in Norway, City Syd, Trondheim. After posting record profits at City Syd, he became property director in the company Made in. Stordalen was the architect of the conversion of the market area in downtown Trondheim and the re-launch of the Liertoppen shopping centre outside Oslo. He was also put in charge of the Bik Bok brand. Following transactions within the Brynestad system Stordalen, at the age of 29, he was an employee of Realkreditt's (later DnB) property development company. Stordalen bought the historical department store Steen & Strøm. The group recouped their investment of kr 20 million in the first five days of the reopening. In the span of three years, the company, Steen & Strøm Invest, became the country's largest holder of commercial real estate. The expansion lasted until 1996, when Stordalen had a falling out with the largest shareholder, Stein Erik Hagen, and was asked to leave his position as CEO.
After leaving Steen & Strøm Invest, Stordalen teamed up with investor Christen Sveaas. In October 1996, the duo bought 68 percent of the shares of Choice Hotels for kr 100 million. Stordalen bought Swedish hotel chain Home as well as Norwegian hotel company InterNor and took Choice Hotels Scandinavia public. During a three-year period, Choice Hotels Scandinavia bought, on average, a new hotel every other week and added 50 people to the payroll every 10 days. In December 1997, Sveaas sold his 37 percent share of the now 77 hotels. In 1999, Christian Ringnes and his company Eiendomsspar acquired a 35 percent share in Choice Hotels Scandinavia. Ringnes folded. The same year, Stordalen also acquired the Danish hotel company Nordisk Hotel Group, Stenungsbaden Yacht Club, and Stockholm Globe Hotel. At age 37, Stordalen became a billionaire (in Norwegian krone). In 2012, Stordalen opened a hotel, Clarion Post Hotel, with 500 rooms and covered an area of 40,000 square metres (430,000 sq ft) in Gothenburg, Sweden. At the opening, 10,000 people were gathered to watch a light-and-fireworks display that included Stordalen ascending from the top of the hotel playing the drums inside a 6-by-6-metre (20 ft × 20 ft) disco ball. In 2022, Stordalen opened the 231-room, art-deco Somerro Hotel in Oslo, built from the 1930s office that previously belonged to Oslo Lysverker. The hotel featured a rooftop pool and terrace and is situated in Frogner.
In 2000, Stordalen formed the company Home Invest, consisting of the properties previously owned by Choice Hotels Scandinavia. The company went public but was delisted in 2001. In 2003, Choice Hotels Scandinavia bought shares in Swedish property owner and developer Capona. In 2004, Stordalen's Home Invest sold 19 hotel properties to Capona with a settlement in shares. In 2006, Capona changed its name to Home Properties. In 2005, Home Invest bought the remaining shares in Choice Hotels Scandinavia and delisted the company. In 2006, Home Properties spun off Home Capital as an investment company and listed it on the First North Stock Exchange in Stockholm. In 2007, Stordalen's Home Invest acquired all the shares in Home Capital and delisted the company. In 2009, Stordalen did the same with Home Properties. In 2019, Nordic Choice Hotels acquired Kämp Collection Hotels.
Petter Stordalen's corporate group Strawberry consists of:
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
