Alexandra Andresen was born in 1997 in Oslo, Norway, where she was also primarily raised.
http://instagram.com/p/QnbBEnJ4J-/embed/
Width: 658px
Her father is Johan Andresen, son of industrialist Johan Henrik Andresen and Marianne Ebba Therese Bielke.
The Andresen family made their money from their tobacco brand, Tiedemanns, which the clan held until 2005 under Ferd. Today, Ferd mainly runs hedge funds. It is an active investor on the Nordic stock exchange and has private equity investments, too.
She was also raised by her mother, Kristin. Here is her mother when she was younger.
http://instagram.com/p/Xp05b/embed/
Width: 658px
She has one sister, Katharina, who is a year older, making her the second-youngest billionaire in the world.
http://instagram.com/p/gU0dKDp4OX/embed/
Width: 658px
Growing up, their house and land was always filled with animals. On Instagram, Alexandra said that "we used to bring our ponies, Pinocchio (pinto) and Spike (brown), to an island where we had a summerhouse. They would walk free on our property."
http://instagram.com/p/kNdzalp4DJ/embed/
Width: 658px
They have also had several dogs, including Bella.
http://instagram.com/p/m0M9r-p4Jr/embed/
Width: 658px
So it was natural that they found an affinity for horses and other animals from an early age.
http://instagram.com/p/kX2Zwsp4Bo/embed/
Width: 658px
Meanwhile, her father sold the family's stake in the tobacco business to Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni for nearly $500 million in 2005.
Two years later, Johan transferred a 42% stake of the company each to Alexandra and Katharina. Alexandra was 10.
http://instagram.com/p/kR9dJTp4O6/embed/
Width: 658px
But Johan still controls the company, and Alexandra's and Katharina's wealth has only become public because Norway publishes the tax returns of any person over 17.
http://instagram.com/p/BAe2i_vp4Lx/embed/
Width: 658px
Alexandra picked up horse riding at a young age, and in recent years has forged a career as a professional dressage competitor.
http://instagram.com/p/qpGAI0p4GC/embed/
Width: 658px
Alexandra is a three-time junior Norwegian dressage champion. Here she is receiving the AEG Galla 2014 Best Achievement of the Year Award.
http://instagram.com/p/vyRjjqJ4FZ/embed/
Width: 658px
She is now sponsored by Kingsland, an equestrian company, for her dressage competitions.
http://instagram.com/p/k2oBNPp4IM/embed/
Width: 658px
While Alexandra and Katharina have inherited enormous fortunes from Ferd, their father insists that they won't be forced to help run the company in the future, which he told Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten in 2015.
http://instagram.com/p/u8R-aaJ4IQ/embed/
Width: 658px
So far, Katharina appears the most likely of the two sisters to work at Ferd, having completed an internship at the family company.
http://instagram.com/p/BBw9B8AMxdR/embed/
Width: 658px
Katharina is now studying social sciences at Amsterdam University College.
http://instagram.com/p/BCatwUHMxQ8/embed/
Width: 658px
Meanwhile, Alexandra is still unsure about the future. She said in an interview on Ferd's website: "I feel a great responsibility. In a way I think that I have not made ??me deserving of this, while I want to help develop Ferd and make it even better. Finding a way to give something back, I think is difficult."
http://instagram.com/p/oGSkqup4Ao/embed/
Width: 658px
"The fact that my family has resources has given me many opportunities, especially in the riding, because it requires a lot of capital. But it is not enough to have money to succeed," Alexandra added.
http://instagram.com/p/0klLEZJ4E4/embed/
Width: 658px
But in another interview last year with Eurodressage magazine, she said: "This is what I want to do for the rest of my life — ride!"
http://instagram.com/p/zMZP7uJ4PH/embed/
Width: 658px
Though she's been aware of her wealth from a young age, Alexandra told Ferd's corporate magazine that her parents always taught the sisters to save pocket money and made them drive second-hand cars, according to The Telegraph.
http://instagram.com/p/UzSVG4p4KV/embed/
Width: 658px
Apart from the horse-riding circuit, she lives a relatively low-key life.
http://instagram.com/p/zzbp_eJ4DT/embed/
Width: 658px
Though she does like the occasional holiday.
http://instagram.com/p/z7CE0GJ4Gc/embed/
Width: 658px
And she also brings her friends to red-carpet events.
http://instagram.com/p/rz-3oip4IX/embed/
Width: 658px
She's close to her mother, who shares her love of horse riding.
http://instagram.com/p/js-ilmp4KK/embed/
Width: 658px
