Chris Hughes, Columnist

Billionaire John Fredriksen's Battle at Sea

The better things look for oil, the more intense will be the fight over Seadrill rescue.

December 29, 2017 at 6:00 AM UTC

Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. Previously, he worked for Reuters Breakingviews, the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Shipping billionaire John Fredriksen struck a deal to save his Seadrill Ltd oil services company from collapse in 2017. Next year, he faces a fight to keep the plan together.

When oil majors cut drilling as crude prices collapsed in 2014, rig-supplier Seadrill was hit hard. Cash flows fell too low to support a $9 billion debt pile; the company's market value dived from a peak of $22 billion the previous year to settle at about $120 million. Founder Fredriksen saw his $5 billion stake almost wiped out.