Christian Erland Harald von Koenigsegg (born July 2, 1972) is a Swedish automotive engineer and entrepreneur.
He is the founder and CEO of the Swedish high-performance automobile manufacturer Koenigsegg Automotive.
1994
In 1994, Koenigsegg launched the "Koenigsegg project", which eventually became Koenigsegg Automotive.
Together with designer David Crafoord, Koenigsegg created a design concept following his original sketches.
The first prototype enabled the foundation of Koenigsegg Automotive.
Koenigsegg and his wife, Halldóra, are leading the company.
Christian von Koenigsegg is the son of Jesko von Koenigsegg, CEO of JK Energiteknik, and fashionista Brita Aasa.
The Koenigsegg lineage is attested from CE 1171 and originates in Swabia, in the Holy Roman Empire, where his ancestors were knights (see Königsegg for details).
The current logo of Koenigsegg Automotive is based on the Königsegg familial coat of arms.
Koenigsegg grew up in Stockholm, and spent a year in high school in Danderyd before enrolling at Lundsbergs boarding school, and then studied economics at the Scandinavian School of Brussels.
He showed an interest in cars from an early age, starting at the age of five when he watched the stop-motion film The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, about a bicycle builder who built a racing car, .
When he was six years old, he drove a go-kart for the first time, and he vividly recalls this as "one of the best days of his life".
Christian von Koenigsegg founded Koenigsegg Automotive AB in 1994 in hopes of producing a "world-class" sports car.
This company was financed initially with money from Christian's previous business ventures.
He also received $200,000 from the Swedish technical development board.
Christian's father became an early investor and financed the operation for over 3 years.
2000
Halldóra von Koenigsegg became involved in 2000 as the COO.
Christian von Koenigsegg has developed many innovations and is a named inventor on several patents:
Christian von Koenigsegg married Halldóra Tryggvadóttir in 2000, and there are competing stories about where they met.
Some sources say that they met during their studies in Brussels, while other sources say they met while in high school.
They presently have 2 sons, Sebastian and Samuel.
Sebastian von Koenigsegg currently works at Koenigsegg Automotive AB as a Brand & Content Manager.
Koenigsegg suffers from alopecia areata universalis, an autoimmune disorder in which the body turns against its own hair follicles.
