Kenny Lövingsson

Rolf Kenny Lövingsson was born on 8 October 1945 at his family's estate, Löviskahuset in Solna, Stockholm County. His father, Axel Erland Lövingsson, was a military intelligence official, diplomat and business executive who had served as permanent secretary of the consul general to the Kingdom of Siam, Axel Ax:son Johnson. His mother, Lilly Lövingsson (née Lundbäck), was secretary-general of the Governorate Offices.^[1]

In 1960, Lövingsson enrolled at Solna Gymnasium in Solna, Stockholm County, aged 15, where he got involved in youth sports. He was recruited for the Swedish Men's National Under-18 basketball team. On 15 December 1963, Lövingsson, playing for Solna District Basketball team, won the Swedish School Championship in Basketball.^[2] He was the player with the second most points in the match.^[2] At the time, the Solna District Basketball team included half of the National Men's Under-18 Basketball team.^[2] In 1964, after surpassing the age limit for the national men's under-18 team, Lövingsson transitioned to and began his mandatory service.

In 1964, Lövingsson was part of the compulsory enlistment process. During his mandatory military conscription, he was assigned to the Jämtland Ranger Corps’s chemical warfare unit. Subsequent to his mandatory service, he continued a career in the military and worked at the Swedish National Defence Research Institute and simultaneously pursuing a Master's Degree in Engineering. He was later assigned to the National CBRN Defence Centre in Stockholm County. His final service assignment was at the Office of the Surgeon-General of the Swedish Armed Forces, where he later graduated with honors.^{[citation needed]}

He enrolled at Stockholm University to pursue a degree in civil engineering, while simultaneously studying national economics and finance. In 1967, he was appointed as deputy site manager at Johnson Construction Company Nya Asfalt.^[3] In 1968, Lövingsson entered sales and worked as a sales engineer at Consensus.^[3] In 1970, Lövingsson was appointed as chief sales officer (CSO) and chief product officer (CPO) at Interco.^[3]

In 1976, Lövingsson was nominated as regional chief executive officer and senior consultant by the executive committee of Utvecklingsplan AB.^[4] In 1977, he was appointed as a board member of Utvecklingsplan AB.^[3]

In 1979, Lövingsson was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of the B2B Marketing agency Anderson & Lembke.^[4] In 1979, under Lövingsson's management, Anderson & Lembke entered the UK market by opening an office in London.^[5] In 1980, he stepped down as CEO of the firm.^[4] In 1982, an Anderson & Lembke office based in Stamford, Connecticut was successfully launched. In the 1980s, the firm was awarded with creative awards and attracted major technology clients such as Microsoft and Sun Microsystems.^[6]

By the year 1984, the A&L group included four companies in Stockholm and agencies in Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Helsinki, Oslo, London, and Stamford. Their combined personnel was 170 and annual sales around US$65 million.^[7]

Lövingsson's team was active in the Chiat/Day/Mojo expansion of Anderson & Lembke Inc. into San Francisco, Amsterdam and Hongkong.^[8][9] In 1995, the shareholders of Anderson & Lembke sold the firm to McCann Erickson.^[10]

In 1981, Lövingsson was appointed as CEO of Cicero and Utvecklingsplan.^[3] In 1984, he managed the fusion between Cicero Affärsinformation AB and Utvecklingsplan AB.^[11] He was appointed as deputy CEO and vice-chairman for the newly formed Cicero Group in 1985.^[4] In 1986, Lövingsson was further appointed CEO of Cicero Management.^[4]

Lövingsson was appointed as vice-chairman and senior consultant at KREAB in 1990.^[12][4] KREAB was at the time the largest lobbying company in Sweden. He was nominated by Jan-Erik Ander, Peje Emilsson and Peder Olin, all of whom founded the PR firm in 1970 and had backgrounds in the Moderate Party.^[13] Lövingsson managed the public relations and lobbying of Carl Bildt’s administration from 1991 to 1994. Carl Bildt during his term as Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister of Foreign Affairs was alleged to have been responsible for the Georgian regime transferring over 20 MSEK to KREAB.^[14][15] KREAB's involvement with Carl Bildt has in media been heavily scrutinised due to lobbying and corruption allegations.^[16][15] Carl Bildt is currently the vice-chairman of KREAB worldwide.^[17] Bildt as well as KREAB denied the allegations.^[18]

Lövingsson further acted as the CEO for the firm Assimilator AB, a smaller advisory and consulting group, from 1989.^[3]

From 1988 to 1991, Lövingsson was a board member of Handels & Juristinkasso AB (today a part of Svea Inkasso AB),^[3] a Swedish debt collection company.^[19] The company was in a controversial trial for using unethical practices. The trial was held in the Supreme Court of Sweden.^[20]

From 1989 to 1992, he served on the board of Merkantil Leasing,^[4] Sweden's oldest financing company, founded in 1965.^[21] Merkantil Leasing is since 2016 owned by Swedbank.^[22]

From 1983 to 1994, Lövingsson was a board member as well as a principal shareholder of the Cicero Group.^[3]

From 1983 to 1994, he was a principal shareholder and served as the chairman of LärData.^[4] The company was founded in 1983 and became a leader in the early Information technology sector in Sweden. In 1984, one year after initially being founded, Lärdata had a revenue of 100 MSEK.^[23] In 1997, the company was acquired by the Swedish private equity firm Segulah, marking it as the firm's first investment.^[23]

He was appointed as chairman of the company Meta Able in 1995.^[3]

In 1990, Lövingsson became a principal shareholder and board member of PACE Utveckling AB,^[24] whose project partners and clients include the Government Offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Enterprise, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Lund University, the Swedish Olympic Committee, Swedish Sports Confederation and others.^[25]

In 1999, he was appointed chairman of Struktur Svenska Kontor AB,^[24] a consulting group.^[26]

Lövingsson served as the chairman of Stockholms Affärsresebyrå AB, later renamed Exakt Affärsresebyrå AB, from 2000 until its acquisition by VIA Travel in 2002.^[24] At the time of the acquisition, the company had a revenue exceeding SEK 1.2 billion.^[27][28] In 2014, the Swedish subsidiary of VIA Travel was the most profitable travel agency in Sweden.^[29]

In 2004 he was moderator for the EBC-Kreaprenör (today Creapreneur)^[30] annual club meeting.^[31] He was further appointed CEO and chairman of Styrelseakademien in Stockholm.^[32]

In 1986, after a visit to the United States, Lövingsson's company Lärdata AB was hired as a third-party provider by the Moderate Party to train staff on modern campaign strategies, including the use of telecommunications, computers, and non-traditional media platforms. During this time, he developed valuable connections with Jan-Erik Ander, Peje Emilsson, and Peder Olin, the founders of the PR firm Kreab Worldwide, all of whom had ties to the Moderate Party.^[33]

Lövingsson served as director of the Information Department in the Moderate Party's Chancery from 23 August 1986 to 4 October 1991. During this period, he became acquainted with Ulf Kristersson, who was then chairman of the Moderate Youth League and is now the prime minister of Sweden. However, Lövingsson and Kristersson eventually diverged due to their differing views on the Carl Bildt Government. While both were closely acquainted with former Party Leader Gösta Bohman, Kristersson aligned more closely with Bohman's criticism of the Bildt Cabinet.^[34]

Lövingsson was appointed vice-chairman, senior partner, and senior expert consultant at Kreab in 1990.^[12][4] He held various positions in the Carl Bildt Government, leveraging his role as vice-chairman of Kreab. Kreab Worldwide, widely regarded as the Moderate Party's primary lobbying and public relations firm, is often described as an integral part of the party's core operations.^[35] This was particularly evident during the Bildt Cabinet, where media described the formation of a "second shadow government" led by Bildt and his associates at Kreab Worldwide.^[36][37]

Lövingsson served as director of the Public Relations Department in the Prime Minister's Office from 4 October 1991 to 11 November 1992 and as senior national advisor for the Policy Department of the Government Offices from 11 November 1991 to 7 October 1994. Within the Moderate Party, he also served as senior advisor and director of the Campaign Promotion and Fundraising Office from 1990 to 1994.

After Carl Bildt's defeat in the 1994 Swedish general election, Lövingsson withdrew from national politics and resigned from Kreab Worldwide. The relationship between Kreab Worldwide, Carl Bildt, and their involvement with the Bildt Cabinet has been heavily scrutinized in the media, particularly due to allegations of lobbying and corruption.^[16][15] Lövingsson, who managed public relations and lobbying for Bildt's administration from 1991 to 1994, also faced scrutiny for his role in these activities.^[38]

During his tenure as prime minister of Sweden and later as minister of foreign affairs, Carl Bildt was alleged to have been involved in the Georgian regime transferring over 20 MSEK to Kreab Worldwide.^[14][15]

Lövingsson was recruited as a teen for the Swedish Men's National Under-18 basketball team. He was granted an active role in the Sweden's nomination to host the Olympic Games.

Lövingsson was appointed chairman of the basketball club Täby Basket from 1988 to 1992 and honorary chairman from 1992 to 1996.^[39] In 1988, Lövingsson appointed Kjell "Kjelle" Göran Karlgren as the club director with focus on the youth activities. The same season Täby Basket successfully qualified for the Swedish Championship finals. In 1989, the Swedish Championship finals were broadcast on television from Tibblehallen which was part of the Täby Basket facilities.^[39]

In 1990, the club joined the Bingo Alliance, which brought Täby Basket an annual 300,000 SEK and helped achieve financial balance in the club's operations.^[39] In 1991, Täby Basket became Swedish Cup champions and the first club in Stockholm to get involved with Bingolotto. To establish sales location Karlgren stated that:

"A [player’s] father helped me travel around to find sales locations. After two months of struggle, it finally took off around Christmas, and we started bringing in 10,000 SEK a month for about 10 years."^[39]

In 1992, the club saw significant growth during school strike, when it made sure that Tibblehallen stayed open. Karlgren is quoted saying:

"We gathered the kids to make sure they stayed active – we created fun activities, and the sense of unity within the club grew stronger."^[39]

In 1992, Lövingsson was appointed chairman of the Swedish Basketball Federation.^[40] The campaign slogan he used was:

"En korg per torg!"^[41]

The same year, in 1992, the Swedish Basketball League was established under Lövingsson's chairmanship. In 1993, the league introduced awards and nominations.^[42]

During the 1980s, the Swedish Basketball Federation imposed restrictions on foreign talent and teams could solely have one player from the Americas.^[43] Lövingsson revoked these restrictions and allowed the teams in the Swedish Basketball Federation to have two American players in 1992.^[43]

The 1990s was regarded the most prominent period of Swedish basketball history.^[43] Under Lövingsson's chairmanship the Swedish Men's National Team reached its highest ranking to this current date.^[43]

In 2020, he would also initiate a fellowship with the Swedish Sports Confederation.^[44]