Early Life
Birgit Rausing was born on October 26, 1924 in Sweden. She is the daughter of landscape painter Henry Mayne.
Tetra Pak and Tetra Laval
In Lund, Sweden in 1951, Rausing’s father-in-law Ruben founded Tetra Pak, a food packaging and processing company. Premised on Erik Wallenberg’s innovation of a tetrahedron-shaped plastic-coated paper carton, the company revolutionized the packaging of liquids such as milk and juice, using aseptic packaging technology to allow for supply without the need for a cold chain. In the early 1950s, Tetra Pak was inherited by Ruben’s sons Gad and Hans, who owned the company for the next 40-plus years. In 1996, Gad acquired his brother’s half of the company. When he passed away in 2000, Birgit and their three children inherited Tetra Pak and its parent company, Tetra Laval. The parent company also controls DeLaval, which produces dairy and farming machinery, and Sidel, which manufactures packaging for liquids such as water, milk, soft drinks, beer, and tea.
Philanthropy
Rausing and her husband helped fund the construction of the Gad & Birgit Rausing Library at Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan. The library houses a collection of over 350,000 volumes, 128,000 e-books, and 35,000 e-journals. Also at the University, the Rausings created the Rausing Executive Development Centre, which offers over 20 programs. Elsewhere, the couple established the Birgit and Gad Rausing Foundation, which awards grants for research within the humanities.
Personal Life
With her husband Gad, Rausing had three children: Kirsten, Finn, and Jörn. All three are businesspeople who co-own the family company Tetra Laval. Previously, Finn co-owned Sauber Motorsport and the Alfa Romeo Formula One team.
