Erik Wachtmeister holds the rank of a Swedish count, so it should be no wonder that he founded exclusive social networking site ASmallWorld. After all, aristocrats can’t be seen using Facebook. His Linked In profile gives an excellent summary of his reasons for starting his own network.

The idea itself came to Wachtmeister during a pause in a wild boar hunt in a German forest in 1998, he told me for an article I wrote for the International Herald Tribune.

Wachtmeister was previously CEO of UK-based Viking Internet and has also held senior corporate finance positions in New York and London.

He has a BS in foreign service from Georgetown University and an MBA from INSEAD.