Jakob Oftebro - 'Vanguard' - Swedish 'Succession' If The Roy Kids Were Competent

Jakob Oftebro (Black Crab, Lillyhammer) joins Son of a Binge host Reshma Gopaldas to talk all about his role as media mogul, Jan Stenbeck in Vanguard, which is being hailed as the Swedish Succession. Imagine if Kendall Roy, Shiv Roy, Roman Roy, and Connor Roy were actually competent. What'd you get is Jan Stenbeck. Based on the true story of the Stenbeck family empire, Oftebro leads the cast.

Vanguard is streaming now on Viaplay.

Also starring: Zoe Boyle (Merrill McCloud), Irene Lindh (Märtha Stenbeck), Malin Crépin (Margaretha af Ugglas), Julia Marko Nord (Elisabeth Silfverstolpe), Iggy Malmborg (Oskar), Nils Wetterholm (Marcus).

Son of a Binge production credits:
Hosted by: Reshma Gopaldas (TW: @reshingbull, IG @reshmago)
Artwork by: Laura Valencia (IG @iamlauravalencia)
Music by: Kevin Calaba (IG @airlandsmusic)

Show Description (from Viaplay):

Vanguard tells the story of an unlikely media mogul and trailblazer of technological reform, torn between passion and duty. It’s a tale of fearless entrepreneurship, a desire to change the world — and a sibling rivalry in a powerful family fractured by old wounds. 

At 35, Jan Stenbeck appears to have it all: a prestigious career at Morgan Stanley, a glamorous life in New York, and a budding romance with American socialite Merrill McCloud. But when tragedy strikes his family in Sweden, he's suddenly thrust into a leadership role at Kinnevik, the family’s industrial empire. 

Armed with bold ideas from the U.S., Jan has no interest in continuing the legacy of steel and forestry. Instead, he launches a radical transformation, turning the conservative conglomerate into a telecom and media powerhouse. What follows is a high stakes battle between tradition and innovation, as Jan’s vision clashes with his siblings’ resistance to change. His relentless drive reshapes the Nordic media and telecom landscape: he breaks Sweden’s telephone monopoly, launches TV3 - Scandinavia’s first commercial channel - and pioneers’ strategies that inspire Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV model and lay the groundwork for Vodafone’s rise. 

At his peak, Jan is worth 800 million dollars, founds 20–30 companies annually, and helps shift Sweden from a traditional industrial society into a leader in global communications. But his meteoric rise comes at a cost. Haunted by loneliness and broken family ties, Jan’s life proves as turbulent as it is transformative. 

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