High Stakes

A stunning biography that breathes life into all-but-forgotten marble bust.

The leader of Finland's largest private company and the country's richest man. An avid socialite enamoured with luxury cars, sleek yachts, private railway cars and European spa resorts. A refined patron of the arts and talented pianist, as well as a strident Swedish-speaking Fennoman and important financial supporter of a fledgling Finnish nation. A self-taught technological visionary and industrial titan who built up a vast empire. An emotional and unstable despot in his family home. A tyrannical employer and ruthless strikebreaker who became the target of an assassination attempt. A hypersensitive pessimist and a tough-as-nails business tycoon.

Walter Ahlström (1875-1931) served as the director of the Finnish company A. Ahlström Ltd from 1907 to 1931. Under his guidance, the firm expanded its operations from a small collection of sawmills to become a thriving industrial powerhouse.

Walter was a dauntless risk-taker who was fated to play a game of high stakes. During his event-filled lifetime, he both won and lost.