Telenor Fights Nobel Peace Price Winner

It is difficult to win a fight against a Nobel Peace Winner. When I originally saw that Yunus of Grameen Bank was to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for making financial loans, I suspected the invisible hand of Telenor in the process helping its partner out. Now, I’m not so sure.

Yunus insists that Telenor "agreed to give us majority ownership within six years. Our intent was to convert to a social business enterprise [where profits are reinvested in the company rather than taken out], but Telenor does not accept."

The Telenor CEO, Baksaas, denies that any such agreement ever took place. He is in Thailand where he is fighting the military dictatorship over ownership and control of Telenor’s Thai network.