Ingvar Kamprad
Ingvar Kamprad lecturing a group of students at Växjö University (March 23, 2004).
Born	March 30, 1926 (1926-03-30) (age 81) Ljungby, Sweden
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Net worth	US$33 billion[1]

Ingvar Feodor Kamprad (help· info) (born March 30, 1926) is a Swedish entrepreneur who is the founder of the home furnishing retail chain IKEA. As of 2007 he is the richest person in Europe and the 4th richest person in the world according to Forbes magazine, with an estimated net worth of around US$33 billion.^[1] Image File history File linksMetadata Ingvar_Kamprad. ... Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, holding a lecture for a group of students at Växjö University Växjö University or Växjö universitet is a state university in Växjö, Sweden. ... is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sweden. ... Ljungby is a Municipality in Kronoberg County, in southern Sweden. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... Image File history File links Sv-Ingvar Kamprad. ... is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the sequel to the computer game Entrepreneur, which has no article of its own, see The Corporate Machine. ... For other uses, see Home (disambiguation). ... Furnishings (aka art objects, decorative arts, knick-knacks, bric-a-brac) are the objects, other than furniture, that occupy an interior space. ... Drawing of a self-service store. ... Chain stores are a range of retail outlets which share a brand and central management, usually with standardised business methods and practices. ... Map of countries with IKEA stores. ... 2007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Net worth (sometimes net assets) is the total assets minus total liabilities of an individual or company. ...

Biography

Kamprad was born on a farm called Elmtaryd (now spelled Älmtaryd), near the small village of Agunnaryd of the Ljungby municipality in the province of Småland, Sweden. Kamprad began to develop a business as a young boy, selling matches to neighbors from his bicycle. He found that he could buy matches in bulk very cheaply from Stockholm, sell them individually at a low price and still make a good profit. From matches, he expanded to selling fish, Christmas tree decorations, seeds and later ball-point pens and pencils. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him a reward for succeeding in his studies ^[2]. He used this money to establish what has grown into IKEA. Agunnaryd is a small, quiet village and a parish in Ljungby Municipality, SmÃ¥land, southern Sweden, 20 km east of Ljungby. ... Ljungby is a Municipality in Kronoberg County, in southern Sweden. ... is a historical province (landskap) in southern Sweden. ... For other uses, see Stockholm (disambiguation). ...

The acronym IKEA is made up of the initials of his name (Ingvar Kamprad) plus those of Elmtaryd, the family farm where he was born; and the nearby village Agunnaryd.

Kamprad has admitted that his dyslexia played a large part in the inner workings of the company. For example, the Swedish-sounding names of the furniture sold by IKEA were originally chosen by Kamprad because he had difficulty remembering stock keeping units (numbers). This article is about developmental dyslexia. ...

Kamprad has lived in Epalinges, Switzerland since 1976. According to an interview with TSR, the French language Swiss TV broadcaster, Kamprad drives a 15 year old Volvo, flies only economy class, and encourages IKEA employees to always write on both sides of a paper.^[3] In addition Kamprad has been known to visit IKEA for a cheap meal. He is also known to buy christmas paper and presents in the post-Christmas sales. While Kamprad's frugality is well documented, it is also an important part of the carefully managed image presented to IKEA employees and the general public. He less frequently mentions that he owns a villa in an upmarket part of Switzerland, a large country estate in Sweden and a vineyard in Provence in France or that he drove a Porsche for several years.^[4][5][6] Epalinges is a commune in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, located in the district and a suburb of Lausanne. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Volvo Cars is the luxury car maker using the Volvo Trademark. ...

While working with furniture manufacturers in Poland earlier in his career, Kamprad became an alcoholic. He has however stated that his drinking is now under control.^[7] Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ...

Net worth

 go bears According to Swedish business weekly Veckans Affärer[8], he is the wealthiest person in the world. This report is based on the assumption that Kamprad owns the entire company, an approach that both IKEA and the Kamprad family reject. Kamprad personally retains little ownership in the company, having transferred his interest to Stichting INGKA Foundation and INGKA Holding as part of a complex tax sheltering scheme that leaves his actual degree of control vague.[9] 

Forbes magazine continues to rank Bill Gates at #1, ranking Kamprad at #4. It was in the aftermath of the Veckans Affärer article that Kamprad advanced from #12 to his current position in Forbes. According to the German T-Online, Kamprad is the 4th richest person in the world, with US$53 Billion. As at March 2005, the sliding value of the U.S. dollar put Kamprad ahead as the richest person in the world in another report. In March 2007, Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at US$33 billion.^[1] Veckans Affärer (Weekly Business) is a Swedish business journal published weekly, dealing in all matters business related both in Sweden and international. ... Net worth (sometimes net assets) is the total assets minus total liabilities of an individual or company. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other persons named Bill Gates, see Bill Gates (disambiguation). ... Veckans Affärer (Weekly Business) is a Swedish business journal published weekly, dealing in all matters business related both in Sweden and international. ... Headquarters in Darmstadt T-Online, a subsidiary of the Deutsche Telekom, is the biggest internet service provider in Germany. ... ← - 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in March • 31 – Terri Schiavo • 30 – Mitch Hedberg • 29 – Johnnie Cochran • 27 – Wilfred Bigelow • 26 – Paul Hester • 26 – James Callaghan • 21 – Jeff Weise • 21 – Bobby Short • 19 – John De Lorean • 18 – Gary Bertini • 17 – George F... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... March 2007 is the third month of the year. ...

Stichting INGKA Foundation

The Dutch-registered Stichting INGKA Foundation is named after Kamprad, and owns INGKA Holding, the parent company for all IKEA stores. The charitable foundation was reported by the business newspaper The Economist in May 2006 to be technically the world's wealthiest charity - with an estimated value of at least US$36 billion in 2006 (larger than the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) - but its primary purpose is, by some, believed to be corporate tax-avoidance and anti-takeover protection for IKEA.^[9] Kamprad is chairman of the foundation. For other uses, see Netherlands (disambiguation). ... The Stichting INGKA Foundation is a Dutch-registered tax-exempt non-profit grant-making charitable foundation which owns the private Dutch-registered company, INGKA Holding, which in turn is the parent company for all companies and most stores of the Swedish furniture store chain IKEA. The name INGKA comes from... The Stichting INGKA Foundation is a Dutch-registered tax-exempt non-profit grant-making charitable foundation which owns the private Dutch-registered company, INGKA Holding, which in turn is the parent company for all companies and most stores of the Swedish furniture store chain IKEA. The name INGKA comes from... A holding company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors. ... A Foundation is a kind of philanthropic organization, set up by either individuals or institutions as a legal entity (usually either a corporation or a trust) with the purpose of distributing grants to support causes in line with the goals of the foundation. ... The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London, UK. It has been in continuous publication since September 1843. ... The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) is the largest transparently operated[2] charitable foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates in 2000 and doubled in size by Warren Buffett in 2006. ... Corporate tax refers to a direct tax levied by various jurisdictions on the profits made by companies or associations. ... A takeover in commerce refers to one company (the acquirer) purchasing another (the target). ...

Works

While generally a private person, Ingvar Kamprad has published a few notable works. He first detailed the IKEA concept of frugality and enthusiasm in a manifesto entitled "A Testament of a Furniture Dealer." Written in 1976, it has since been considered the fundamental ideology of the IKEA furniture retail concept. He also worked with Swedish journalist Bertil Torekull on the book "Leading By Design: The IKEA Story." In the autobiographical account, he further describes his philosophies and the trials and triumphs of the founding of IKEA. ^[10]

Controversy

In 1994 the personal letters of the Swedish fascist activist Per Engdahl were made public after his death, and it was revealed that Kamprad had joined Engdahl's pro-Nazi group in 1942. Kamprad had raised funds for and recruited members to said group at least as late as September 1945. When Kamprad quit the group is unknown, but he remained a friend of Engdahl until the early 1950s. Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the needs of the state, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on, but not limited to, ethnic, cultural, or racial attributes. ... Per Engdahl Per Claes Sven Edvard Engdahl (born February 25, 1909 in Jönköping, died May 4, 1994 in Malmö) was a leading Swedish neo-Nazi politician. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

Since the public revelation Kamprad has said that he bitterly regrets that part of his life, calling it his greatest mistake and he subsequently wrote letters of apology to all IKEA employees of Jewish descent. It's believed that the fact that IKEA is one of the few retailers to have a store in Israel even though it also does business with the Arab world reflects an attempt to temper this controversy.^[11] For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... Map of countries with IKEA stores. ... “Arab States” redirects here. ...

References

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Screenshot of About. ...

See also

• List of billionaires
• IKANO
• Stichting INGKA Foundation

Forbes magazine annually lists the worlds wealthiest individuals: The Worlds Billionaries. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... The Stichting INGKA Foundation is a Dutch-registered tax-exempt non-profit grant-making charitable foundation which owns the private Dutch-registered company, INGKA Holding, which in turn is the parent company for all companies and most stores of the Swedish furniture store chain IKEA. The name INGKA comes from...

External links

• Ingvar Kamprad: IKEA Founder and One of the World's Richest People (About.com Entrepreneurs)
• Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People
• Ingvar Kamprad's Timeline and Quotes
• The Local - Introducing Ingvar Kamprad (humorous profile)