John Fredriksen and Mark O'Neil rank among Lloyd’s List’s 100 most influential people in shipping

The 15th edition of Lloyd’s List’s annual ranking of the most influential people in shipping has been published, and it includes two major industry players with Cypriot ties.

John Fredriksen, the Norwegian-born Cypriot oil tanker and shipping billionaire businessman based in London, and Mark O'Neil, President and CEO of Columbia Shipmanagement and President of InterManager, have both made it to the list.

Fredriksen, Fredriksen Group, ranks 9th on the List, where he is described as a “Wily dealmaker and trader who has fought off bankruptcy more than once and was briefly jailed for bunker fraud (which he denied) has grown his fortune over 2024”.

The publication adds: “Unlike Rupert Murdoch — who has had equivalent power and influence in global media as Fredriksen has had in global shipping — the Norwegian-born tycoon has no heirs squabbling for power and control over his business.”

Fredriksen, the so-called "king of tankers", owns the world's largest oil tanker fleet and chairs and directs multiple companies and groups. With a fortune worth $13.5b, he is the world’s richest Cypriot since he has been a Cypriot citizen since 2006. Although he lives in London, a large part of his shipping business is based in Oslo.

Mark O'Neil, President and CEO of Columbia Shipmanagement, and President of InterManager, ranked 96th, with the reasoning that the “Chief executive has the ability to gain an acute sense of the industry’s needs and meet them from both the commercial and policy points of view”.

It added, “A recognition of the urgency of meeting the demands of decarbonisation and digitalisation within the industry and the latter’s seeming inertia in dealing with them, has led Columbia Shipmanagement in certain key directions”.

O’Neil is a prominent figure within the maritime industry. Having earned a Law Degree at Southampton University and subsequent First Class from Guildford Law School, he has worked for 20 years as a maritime lawyer in London with leading international law firms: he assumed his role as Columbia Shipmanagement CEO at the beginning of 2017.

Lloyd’s List: Industry in a state of flux

The 15th edition of Lloyd’s List’s annual ranking of the most influential people in shipping finds the industry in a state of flux, a statement accompanying the list said.

“The optimism evident in recent editions has given way to pragmatism in the face of uncertainty,” it added. “Geopolitical risk is partly to blame for this more cautious approach from industry influencers this year. The full impact of a Trump 2.0 presidency is yet to be revealed, but it is not just uncertainty over trade, tariffs and conflict that has left many of the Top 100 hedging their bets. Next year will reveal whether shipping’s decarbonised ambitions are to become a reality.”

The specifics of the policy measures set to be agreed at the International Maritime Organization will affect almost every aspect of global maritime trade, it said. “Until that happens much of the decision making is on hold and shipping’s boardrooms are in wait and see mode.”

However, it concluded, “This year’s list is still replete with the bold moves, power plays and investment you would expect from a list of the most important industry players. But it is what happens next year that will really ripple through global supply chains and determine where the influence lies in this annual list.”

Download the list here