S tein Erik Hagen is a prominent and often colorful Norwegian billionaire who built his fortune in the grocery and retail industries. He is the founder of the RIMI discount supermarket chain. In the late 1970s, he took over his father's small grocery store and, with a focus on low prices, built it into the highly successful RIMI chain, which expanded across Norway and into other Nordic countries. This business became the foundation of his wealth.

In 2004, he sold his stake in the grocery business and has since focused on managing his family's wealth through their private investment company, Canica AS. Canica has a diversified portfolio of investments with significant holdings in the consumer goods and industrial sectors. The firm's largest and most valuable holding is a major stake in Orkla ASA, a leading Nordic supplier of branded consumer goods. Hagen, who now resides in Switzerland, has passed on the leadership of the family's investment firm to his daughter, Caroline, but he remains a well-known and influential figure in Norwegian business.