Wondering what time it is in Sydney? Or when the sunrise is in Stavanger? Then you have definitely been on the website of Time and Date – a company that has swept in 100 million in the last six years.
Steffen Thorsen is the founder and sole owner of the company Time and Date.
–Kristian Jacobsen–
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The brand new annual accounts for Time and Date show that last year was a record good with a profit before tax of NOK 26.4 million – up from NOK 24.5 million in 2019.
Last year, turnover landed at NOK 45.9 million. Also a slight increase from 45.5 in 2019. On the whole, the company, which is 100 percent owned by Steffen Thorsen from Sandnes, has become a real money machine. Yes, millions are literally ticking in for the site that is the world’s largest for time and time zones.
50 mill. in two years
The accounts for the last six years show that Time and Date has had a profit before tax of around NOK 100 million – and in the last two years alone, the result has been over NOK 50 million.
This has done Steffen Thorsen to a rich man. On the tax lists for 2019, the 45-year-old is listed with an income of NOK 10.8 million and a fortune of NOK 36.8 million.
– I have always been interested in clocks and calendars, but the start-up was really random. It was when I started at the University of Trondheim in 1995 and got access to the internet that it all began, Thorsen said in an interview with Aftenbladet almost three years ago.
Astronomy is pop
On weekdays, Time and Date has around 6 million page views every day. Most pop is the site when there is a solar or lunar eclipse. Then Thorsen and his team often make live broadcasts that generate both traffic and revenue.
– We have several ideas for development in astronomy. But we try to make it all a bit so popular science and easy to understand, Thorsen has previously stated.
Time and Date has offices at Forus outside Stavanger, where the company has 29 employees. The company’s equity is NOK 55.1 million.
—-Steffen Thorsen has become rich by running a website that is the largest in the world in time and time zones.
–Kristian Jacobsen–
Reorganization underway
The annual report also states that Time and Date is in the process of reorganizing the business.
«The company has adopted a demerger which was completed in March 2021. In the demerger, the company’s intellectual property rights, including the website timeanddate.com, are demerged to Time and Date Rights AS as the acquiring company. Time and Date AS has entered into an operating agreement with the acquiring company in the demerger, where Time and Date AS continues to operate the website in exchange for receiving an agreed remuneration that covers operating costs and a share of the contribution margin ».
Furthermore, it says:
«Time and Date Rights AS is indirectly owned by the same shareholder as Time and Date AS. It is intended that Time and Date AS will become a subsidiary of Time and Date Rights when the reorganization is completed ».
The accounts back to 2005 show that Steffen Thorsen has taken out around NOK 40 million in dividends. However, for the first time he has chosen not to do so last year.
