Biography
We take immense pride in Torben’s accomplishments.
We will carry ourselves through our lives with the treasures of the wonderful memories he left behind. “As memories are a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose”.
In this biography, we have shared excerpts from our lifetime of memories with Torben that provide only a glimpse of who he was.
Torben was born on March 15th, 1970 in Herning, Denmark to Anne Kirstine Majgaard Kristensen and the late Henry Majgaard Kristensen.
By instinct, Torben had a remarkable flair for business and the courage to take risks, this cocktail was one of his most important strengths.


Ciklum
Torben created on his own – supported by his engaged employees – the globally successful company – Ciklum in 2002, in a competitive industry. He built the company into one of the largest information technology companies in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, attracting world-class customers. By doing this, Torben provided employment opportunities for 3.000-3.500 people.
Under Torben’s leadership, Ciklum saw astounding revenue growth. Torben’s success vaulted Ciklum into the ranks of top IT outsourcing companies in the nation and worldwide. The company was recognized in the 2016 Global Outsourcing 100 lists of the world’s best outsourcing services providers, where it has stayed ever since. Ciklum has 25 office locations across 12 countries including in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Pakistan, etc.
Ciklum sells software development services abroad (outsourcing). The name ‘Ciklum’ came up when Torben asked an IT developer to figure out a name meaning absolutely nothing.

Heroes
Torben had a bunch of “heroes” inspiring him in his work, and his reflection of their wisdom in his work, was the basis for Torben’s business principles:
Henry Ford: “if you’d asked customers what they want, they would have said “Horses that run faster”. Torben adapted this quote to his business “it is important not to ask your customers what they want, it is important to see what they need and to meet these needs”. Ciklum was established on this core philosophy: the customer is often right, but we work with him.. with a firm hand.
The Duke of Wellington: “Napoleon’s presence on the battlefield was worth forty thousand men”. Torben adopted this in his own leadership” Be there,
Show people where to go and lead by example.
Henry John Heinz, the creator of the world-famous ketchup, was convinced that if you do ordinary things extraordinarily well, success is inevitable. Torben’s philosophy was, that this statement should be in the lexicon of any businessman: “You do not have to reinvent the wheel, just make it spin faster.”
Carl von Clausewitz was a Prussian general saying, “It is even better to act quickly and error than to hesitate until the time of action is past”. Torben himself didn’t approve of hesitating, too much planning, and thinking too much, he used to say “There are people who consider for a long time, plan, think about every step before taking action. I’m not one of them. Yes, I do not plan well, but I am not afraid to act”.


Ukraine
In 2012, Torben sold 20 percent of Ciklum to Horizon Capital, a private equity fund manager. In 2015, the billionaire philanthropist George Soros bought an equity stake in the company, and Horizon Capital was brought out.
Torben was generous, investing in the education of IT specialists. In April 2014, a joint group of the Ukrainian government and leading Ukrainian IT companies with the participation of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and Kyiv City Administration decided to create ‘BrainBasket’, and Torben was one of the founders of the non-profit organization. “When Ukraine educates enough tech people, there will be more research and development centers in the country”, Torben said. “This is the road to national wealth”.
Torben invested in several funds and start-ups, such as Reality Clash, VOX (Coppertino), AVenture, etc. He also served as Investment Partner at PROfounders Capital. Torben was an optimist and cerebral investor. He was willing to invest sizeable sums in the dreams of other aspiring entrepreneurs, even though he invested in many failed ventures.

Land of Mine
Torben was executive producer of the critically acclaimed ‘Land of Mine’ (2015).
The movie dramatized a fascinating World War II story about German prisoners put to work defusing land mines along the coast of Denmark, a topic matching Torben’s personal hobby. The movie was shown in the Platform section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, and it was selected and nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards. Even though the movie didn’t win the Oscar, Torben enjoyed the Oscar academy show, which he attended in LA in 2017.
Previously, Torben grew up in a small village Studsgaard outside Herning, Denmark, with his Mother and father Anne and Henry and his sister, Anita. Early in his childhood, he loved playing in the garden building advanced multi-levels tree houses, which weren’t always the same pleasure for the neighbors. Later, Torben became quite keen on computers and gaming. Instead of partying, like other young people, he spent all his time in front of a computer.

Business School
Torben started his first company (selling floppy disks) at age 16. We believe Torben’s zest for business came from his insatiable sense of curiosity. When he was noticeably young, his curiosity exposed him to imagining endless business possibilities. Torben’s grasp – not only to see business opportunities – but also his capability to take advantage of using them, will inspire us for years to come.
Torben attended Herning Business School and graduated in 1989. After serving a year in the military, he followed his natural strengths into sales in the retail business (Coop).

Den Blå Butik
Torben worked himself up in the retail business and shortly after graduating, he became department manager and advanced to department manager and later on sales manager.
After working in the retail business for a few years, Torben in 1994 c/o founded the shop ‘Den Blå Butik’ in Denmark, selling second-hand computers. Within two years the shop was expanded to five shops. In December 1995 he sold the “Den Blå Butik” shop chain. All the money from the sale was immediately invested in new business projects.

Latvia
Torben relocated to Riga, Latvia in January 1996, as he saw the potential of selling not only second-hand computers but also, second-hand Electronics and Appliances and old Lada’s (cars). At the start, 40 ft. containers were placed in the childhood home in Studsgaard, and Anita acquired second-hand objects from all over Denmark. In the end, this business idea didn’t really match Torben’s expectations.
Torben returned to Denmark, as he was offered a good position as a Shop manager for Coop, earning a pretty good salary. However, Torben didn’t thrive under too much compliance and he wanted to make decisions for himself.
Failures never discouraged him from trying again. This attitude led him to found Ciklum and his immense success in creating an industry giant, which is a credit to him and Ukraine.”

Lithuania and Ukraine
In 1999 Torben left Denmark again and went to Vilnius in Lithuania where he founded the company Vilcomp. The business was still the sale of second-hand computers, however this time it was on a larger scale. In the following years, Torben founded and sold several companies in the IT-sphere in Denmark and Eastern Europe, such as WebIntelGroup, IT-Genbrug, etc.
Torben went to Ukraine in 2002 to resell second-hand computers, and as Torben said “he felt a little bit in love with things over there. It was a world you could influence and change, especially for a kid in his early 20s, coming from overregulated Denmark.”
In 2001, Ukraine’s legendary corruption forced Torben to change course. “I was getting tired of the people who demanded bribes to allow my chain to continue operating as usual. I started out selling computer hardware, a physical product that I had to take across borders. There was a customs regulation saying that computers were a luxury product, and thus taxed at €200 plus VAT. Yet I was pricing my computers for resale at $100. We were having lots of trouble with customs and other issues, and at one point I got fed up. Yet I wanted to stay in Ukraine because I loved the country and its people. I noticed that software was becoming a growing business globally, so I went into that field”.

The Ukrainian cowboy from Herning
Torben sold his hardware business for $10,000 and bought a Kyiv apartment. He hired programmers, put them in an office, gave them internet connection, and locked the door from the inside. Switching from hardware to software sales in 2002, was the start of Ciklum.
Ciklum grew, despite the country’s economic turbulence, political instability, and corruption. “No matter what happens around us, IT is free,” Torben said in an interview with the Kyiv Post. “All you need is an office, connection to the internet, ability to code, and here we go… you’ve got an IT company capable of doing business internationally”. This way of thinking guided Torben into making Ciklum one of the most successful international tech firms in Ukraine.
Torben thrived in that chaotic atmosphere, and a Danish newspaper from Torben’s hometown once named him “the Ukrainian cowboy from Herning”, this has made us laugh plenty of times.

Torben had his own unique visions, principles, and business philosophy, and he didn’t “take no for an answer”, his approach was that “things needed to be difficult if it wasn’t, everybody could do it”. Torben was indeed a self-driven individual, and his desire to set high reaching goals for himself led him to inspiring results in his life.

A leader with a huge heart
As a leader Torben could be difficult, but those who really knew him, know that he was a human with a huge heart, energetic, exciting, and he had an endless trust in people, and with Torben, you didn’t only get a second chance, but a third, fourth, etc….
As his sister being close to Torben all my life, I’m not afraid to say, that it sometimes could be difficult to know what he actually desired. Others might use stronger language, but all that we know of Torben exhibits him as inspired by a resolute pride, a certain stateliness, and imperious elevation of mind. He was avid to teach people to see possibilities and not limitations!

He was a person for whom there was nothing impossible. Torben was and should be, an inspiration to many people.
As a person Torben was gregarious and chance encounters with him were invariably pleasant. He was a man who gladly shared what he had, with his family and friends, he liked to help both his friends and family and make them happy.

Father and son
He was a loving son, a devoted father, and a true friend, he will be fondly remembered for his generous heart, his silly humor, his relaxed dress style, and for being able to talk for hours on many topics.
Torben loved being a father, he felt an unwavering love for his children no matter the circumstances. With all his heart, Torben strongly and deeply loved his sons, we will never forget the loving glint in his eyes and the genuine warmth in his smile every time he saw his boys or spoke about them with pride.
He enjoyed turning the boy’s birthday party into an adventure with spiderman or a giraffe or by arranging for a limousine to drive us around – just because it was fun to do.
Torben was so proud of his sons.
We hope that his sons will grow up and feel the same pride for their father.

Traveling
Torben enjoyed traveling, and you could experience him embrace his inner child when he took a journey on a roller coaster with his sons or played a war game with friends.
Torben cherished the sun, and he dreamed of and planned on moving to Spain, which he unfortunately never managed.

History
Torben had a rich grasp of history and could talk intelligently on the topic for hours, leaving no need for additional information whenever we would visit a historic place.
Torben was always ready to challenge people on their own history, no matter from which country they came.
Torben was taken too soon from us, and I wish we could have had more time together.
I vividly remember our many vacations together, our business projects, and our discussions on his beloved GIGANT orange sofa, which almost everyone who visited Torben was placed in.

Torben did live a colorful and sometimes turbulent life but in the end, he passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 3, 2019.
Torben truly packed a lot of life in a short lifetime. Despite his untimely death, Torben lived more than the vast majority of people ever do. If you knew him, you knew an incredibly special guy. Torben touched many lives in so many different ways.
Remembering Torben is easy, we who loved him, do it every day.
To say he is being missed is such a huge understatement. It is impossible to list all the ways that we miss him and how our lives, are forever changed.
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