ABBA Voyage: General Discussion 2023-24

I was thinking the same myself, Tinnee. Sounds like the journalist had to rely on information made public through the Swedish revenue system. Frida's earnings will be more of a mystery to them, given that she lives between Switzerland and Mallorca (and possibly the UK?). But Bjorn - a Swedish citizen, resident in Stockholm - is a mystery here. Maybe his divorce makes his financial position too complicated to report on?

The album was a global hit, so a big uptick in earnings can't really be a surprise to Aftonbladet? I'd be surprised if the show has yielded much for them (as investors) yet - unless they're just four members of a larger conglomerate and have already broken even on their investments?

Delighted to hear about this success either way. Proof that great music lives on.

Aftonbladet also published in November of 2021 "Unique mapping: Abbas' billions" (premium article behind pay wall), there you the revenue/tax annual report submitted by Bjorn, Benny and Agnetha. You can see that for 2020 Agnetha turnaround was SEK 9 million, Benny was profit was SEK 24 million, like is stated in the current article, the 2020 tax for
Bjorn has no information about the profit for 2020, but his profit from the annual report for 2019 is SEK 175 million. Frida lives in Switzerland , there is no public tax/revenue information, but according to the business magazine BILANZ she is the number 249 in the list of the 300 richest people in Switzerland (2022) with assets of 250-300 million Swiss Francs. Below an article from "schweizer-illustrierte" about celebrities on the 2022 BILANZ list (Shania Twain,Anni-Frid Reuss,Tina turner, sebastian Vettel and Roger Federer), and also the "income, companies, properties, cars' from the the annual report for Bjorn, Benny and Agnetha.

From "schweizer-illustrierte"

The celebrities among the richest

Among the women in the richest list there are also some names that are known from the show business. These include, for example:

Shania Twain: CHF 400 to 450 million (209th)
Anni-Frid Reuss (ABBA): CHF 250 to 300 million (249th place)
Tina Turner: CHF 200 to 250 million (266)

And of course, the prominent names are not missing among the men. For example, Sebastian Vettel is in 253rd place with an estimated fortune of 250 to 300 million Swiss francs. And on place 160 Roger Federer with 700 to 800 million Swiss francs.


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Björn Ulvaeus – income, companies, properties, cars
Age: 76 years.

2020:

Income from service: SEK 282,090
Deficit of capital: SEK 393
2019:

Income from service: SEK 2,893,318
Excess capital: SEK 909
2018:

Income from service: SEK 2,853,152
Excess capital: SEK 6,238


Company: Kopparnäset AB (parent company within the Group)

Björn owns 70 percent of the company, his wife Lena owns 10 percent and according to a minutes from the AGM from 2008, the remaining parts are owned by daughters Emma and Anna Ulvaeus.

Turnover 2020: SEK 8,527,000
Profit 2019: SEK 175,125,000
Assets of the company in 2019: SEK 1,616,959,000
Share dividend 2020: SEK 0


Real estate:

An agricultural property and a single-family house property in Värmdö municipality, both with beach plots, with an assessed value of SEK 7,058,000 and SEK 13,676,000 respectively.
Two properties on Djursholm with a total assessed value of SEK 27,200,000.


Vehicle:

Tesla Model 3, red, model year 2020
Jaguar I-pace, blue, model year 2020
Toyota Rav4, white, model year 2017
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Benny Andersson – income, companies, properties, cars
Age: 74 years.

2020:

Income from service: SEK 2,619,333
Deficit of active business activities: SEK 1,282,040
Excess capital: SEK 1,417,373
2019:

Income from service: SEK 2,578,980
Deficit of active business activities: SEK 1,208,318
Excess capital: SEK 11,388,904
2018:

Income from service: SEK 2,485,713
Deficit of active business activities: SEK 1,268,244
Excess capital: SEK 10,807,934


Company: Nyckelbrädan AB (parent company within the Group)

Benny owns 95 percent, his son Ludvig owns 5 percent of the company in the form of B-shares, according to a 2016 minutes of the meeting.

Turnover 2020: SEK 113,357,499
Profit 2020: SEK 24,930,422
Assets in the company 2020: SEK 632,031,846
Share dividend 2020: SEK 0


Real estate:

Two built-up agricultural properties in Svedala with an assessed value of SEK 5,747,000 and SEK 10,483,000 respectively.
Built-up agricultural property in Trosa with a taxable value of SEK 17,790,000.
Small houses on an unfree basis on Djurgården in Stockholm (the land on Djurgården is owned by the royal house) with a taxable value of SEK 13,800,000.


Vehicle:

Porsche Panamera Turbo S e-hybrid, grey, model year 2018
Toyota IQ, gray, model year 2012
Tractor Bolinder Munkt 230, green, model year 1956

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Agnetha Fältskog – income, companies, properties, cars
Age: 71 years.

2020:

Income from service: SEK 1,858,092
Deficit of active business activities: SEK 6,009,526
Excess capital: SEK 322,863
2019:

Income from service: SEK 1,821,706
Deficit of active business activities: SEK 5,858,086
Excess capital: SEK 726,553
2018:

Income from service: SEK 1,782,456
Deficit of active business activities: SEK 5,696,953
Excess capital: SEK 5,241,091


Company: Agnetha Fältskog produktion AB

(100 percent owned by Agnetha Fältskog)

Turnover 2020: SEK 9,023,627
Profit 2020: SEK 7,588,546
Assets in the company 2020: SEK 114,466,600
Share dividend 2020: SEK 1,200,000


Real estate:

Single-family house property on Ekerö with a taxable value of SEK 2,781,000.
Built-up agricultural property on Ekerö with an assessed value of SEK 27,453,000.
Single-family house property in Båstad with a taxable value of SEK 8,993,000.


Vehicle:

Motorhome Fiat Capron T68, , multi-colored, model year 2020
Tractor John Deere 5070M, green, model year 2014
Lexus RX 450H, black, model year 2012

I think it's unnecessary, intrusive and tasteless to post ABBA's tax and financial info online. Swedish law may allow this but this, to me, is a case of "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should".

Mark, would you post their medical records if you could?

Isn't that information available about every tax-paying citizen in Sweden? Feels a lot like a nosey-parker's charter. But if Sweden is some kind of exemplar when it comes to corruption, bring it on for everyone.

Johnny I agree my publication is tasteless and unnecessary, as soon as I publish it I regreted, but I couldn't find a delete post as guest. I would never publish medical info, because is private, in other hand tax in Sweden is public information

As Hometime says, there really isn’t an issue. It’s public information whether some like that or not. I certainly never even considered deleting your post, and there was no need for you to think about it.

My mentioning of vehicles driven wasn’t a criticism of you for including it, it was more a surprise that that level of detail is in the public domain in Sweden. I imagine Kate Bush hates the fact that her filed accounts and net assets are viewable by anyone (hence some fans getting offended on her behalf when I did that Facebook post) but it’s tough. And the same with ABBA.

The list of 300 richest people in Switzerland was published by BILANZ (most trusted business magazine in Switzerland) in November of 2022, here a little profile of Anni-frid Reuss(Frida) as #249 on the list, they talk about Voyage and as usual they portrait Frida , as they do with Agnetha, as a reclusive (lives a secluded life), the press will never change.

She didn't expect a big success anymore. At least that's what Anni-Frid Reuss (77), who lives a secluded life and hardly speaks publicly, said in one of her rare interviews with BBC Radio 2. But the tenth ABBA album, released at the end of 2021, shot to the top of the charts in many countries and stayed there there in Germany for 36 weeks and in Switzerland for 32 weeks - longer than in ABBA's homeland of Sweden, where the album was in first place for "only" 24 weeks. Given the age of the band members, it was probably the last big hit. However, Reuss said meaningfully: "Never say never." The new music and the virtual concerts in the ABBA Arena in London should add a few million to the singer, who resides above Lake Geneva.

(as of November 2022)

year position fortune
2016 241 275 million CHF
2017 248 275 million CHF
2018 242 275 million CHF
2019 246 275 million CHF
2020 241 275 million CHF
2022 249 275 million CHF (+/- 300 million USD, +/ 250 million GBP)

Lamont, are you talking about this article published in 2008 mypanamalawyer.blogspot.com/2008/12/abba-singers-have-mixed-results.html, that talks about Bjorn and Frida,
here the article about Frida:

Frida will have to pay millions in taxes!

The former star of ABBA Anni-Frid Reuss - Lyngstad - "Frida" - has to pay 12 million Swedish kronor in taxes and interest on revenue of music that were transferred to her company in the tax haven of Panama. This was decided by the Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm.

While Björn Ulvaeus earlier this week won a lengthy lawsuit against the National Tax Director, and will get back 85 million Swedish kronor second decision of the Court's Administrative Council, is going in the opposite direction of the former companion of band Anni-Frid Reuss - Lyngstad.

The company registered in Panama as Chaperon, for which she is the sole owner, received royalty revenues from Polar Music and Universal Music of the rights on ABBA products. The money was deposited in a bank account in Switzerland, where Anni-Frid Reuss - Lyngstad resides.

This was discovered by the National Tax Directorate few years ago, when an inspection was done on tax returns of Chaperon, income for the period 2000-2002 as part of an investigation relating to payments of royalties from Sweden.

Anni-Frid Reuss - Lyngstad is not required to pay tax in Sweden as she is not a resident there, but Chaperon is - which was also recognized when it submitted its income tax returns.

However, the company claimed large reductions in spending - because of the acquisition of rights - which meant that it appeared the company was taking losses.

The National Tax Directorate did not accept the deductions by Chaperon and imposed a fine of additional 38 million Swedish crowns its revenue during the period 2000-2002. This meant that Anni-Frid Reuss - Lyngstad is required to pay taxes and interest of approximately 12 million Swedish crowns.

The former member of ABBA appealed the decision before the Court, but the appeal was rejected. Now the verdict was settled by the Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm.

Yes, I'm still hoping for more. Not an entire new album but those two unreleased tracks or a completely new single or a documentary with all four taking part and reminiscing together. We must not forget that the most important anniversary of them all is yet to come. If nothing happens in 2024, I will probably reconcile to the fact that it is definitely over. But until then... 

And I'm really curious about the anniversary performance at the Voyage Arena on 27th May. Somehow I can't imagine they would organize a fan club-only night if there wasn't something special happening. I hope at least some of the ABBA members will attend the concert again. But I won't be disappointed if it is just an "ordinary" Voyage performance either, as the anniversary actually gave me an excuse to go again, which would othewise be difficult to justify. 

As for new releases/songs, like Hometime I think next year is the most likely scenario. Nothing will happen this year.

I am reminded of Fleetwood Mac's 50 Year compilation. Different editions eg single CD and double CD. I don't think there will be a single ABBA CD/double vinyl - we have Gold.

But could (the most likely option) be a re-vamped Definitive Collection with maybe a new/unreleased song. But how could you have a song that was not deemed good enough for a studio album to be on a Best Of? You could point to More Gold and Lovelight. The 1982 songs on that album were never on a studio album before as no studio album for them to be on. But More Gold was a "B list" album. Any new compilation will probably feature big hits along with lesser known songs.

Or we could get a Thank You For the Music style box set re-revamp with a new and perhaps unreleased songs and a few Voyage songs.

I'd be amazed if we got a Beatles style Anthology set - Benny and Bjorn being like what they are.

It would be nice if they used the relative "lull" of 2023 to deliver the coloured singles/picture discs/half-speed master set for The Visitors.

I hope ABBA have the ambition and nerve to bring out something fresh and interesting for their 50th Anniversary in 2024, rather than yet another compilation to celebrate it. At their ages, I think Benny and Bjorn should be more relaxed about letting the public decide what's worthy of listening to. Yes, it's their music and their prerogative as to what gets released, but they have have held different opinions about their songs and recordings before, and some tracks they like have not been equally liked by fans.

It's all a bit precious and unnecessary, I think, when one considers the alternative takes that great jazz musicians have recorded and released over the decades. OK, pop isn't jazz, but maybe it should be a bit more like it in terms of allowing more material to be released.

Sorry, this may have been discussed before. Do we know why Benny considers Money, Money, Money unsuitable for the Voyage show? I always thought that he had a high opinion of the song.

If there is some sort of release next year what do people a) want it to be and b) expect it to be?