Esse, non videri

Marcus Wallenberg, the patriarch of the mighty Swedish Wallenberg family, had a motto that is now commonly used for the whole clan. It reads “Esse, non videri” and I have never heard it translated as anything other than “Acting without being noticed”, meaning sneaking under the radar. Moving without shaking. I have even seen a member of the Wallenberg family being interviewed and not correcting the reporter’s misinterpretation.

In fact, it means nothing of the sort. “Esse, non videri” means ”To be, not to seem to be”. It means to actually be what you claim to be, not merely brand yourself as being it. With the focus on appearance over substance in corporate pronouncements these days (“We strive to be seen as ...” rather than ”We strive to be ...”), you can see where they might have problems understanding its meaning.

Apparently even the Wallenbergs themselves.