Jan Stenbeck, the multimillionaire backer of Sweden’s Victory Challenge America’s Cup campaign, died on Monday in Paris after suffering a heart attack. He was aged 59.

Stenbeck was one of the so-called ‘Bs’ of this America’s Cup, the billionaire patrons whose fortunes have fuelled the contest. He inherited a family steel and forest business, took an MBA at Harvard Business School and returned to transform it into an infinitely more profitable conglomerate, comprising newspapers, TV and the Scandinavian telecom business Kinnevik. His personal wealth amounted to $800 million.

Like most of the other wealthy men behind the America’s Cup, Stenbeck liked yachts and boats, and had a number of them as accessories. His superyacht was Black Knight, the black-hulled yacht used as the New York Yacht Club’s committee vessel during Australia II’s historic victory in 1983.

The Victory Challenge team have said that its campaign will continue in October as planned.