Crash in Slovenia

“Pirate Bay financier killed in plane crash

"The Pirate Bay" is a notorious file-sharing website.

(Bild: Sharaf Maksumov)

Swedish entrepreneur Carl Lundström was killed in the crash of a small plane in Slovenia on Monday. The 64-year-old financier of the internet file-sharing platform The Pirate Bay was known in Sweden as a supporter of right-wing populist and far-right movements and parties, according to the media.

The newspaper "Expressen" described Lundström as a "right-wing extremist", while the Alternative for Sweden party called him a "legend and veteran of Swedish nationalism".

Lundström was on his way from Zagreb to Switzerland on Monday when his small plane crashed in bad weather in northern Slovenia and crashed into a mountain hut on the Velika Planina plateau. As the pilot, he was the only person on board. Rescue workers were only able to recover his body from the destroyed hut on Tuesday.

Swedish reports confirm identity
The Slovenian police have so far only confirmed that the pilot who died in the accident was a Swedish citizen. No further details of his identity have been given. Meanwhile, Swedish media reported that it was Lindström. This was also confirmed by the far-right Alternative for Sweden party in its obituary on its website.

Lundström was the heir to the Swedish crispbread empire Wasabröd, which the family sold to the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz in the 1980s. Among other things, the businessman owned the telecommunications company Rix Telecom, whose technical services made the launch of the Internet file-sharing platform possible. In 2009, he was convicted of copyright infringement along with the founders of The Pirate Bay.

In right-wing extremist circles for decades
Lundström moved in anti-immigration and far-right circles for decades, writes Expressen. In the 1980s, he was a member of the far-right movement Bevara Sverige Svenskt (Sweden should remain Swedish), which later became the Sweden Democrats party. Over the years, he financed several far-right parties. In 2021, he stood as a candidate for the Alternative for Sweden in a church election.

Lundström reportedly emigrated to Switzerland in 2008 and has lived between Switzerland and Croatia in recent years. In the Adriatic country, he is said to have founded a trading platform for cryptocurrencies.