| Ingvar Kamprad |
Ingvar Kamprad lecturing a group of students at Växjö University (23 March 2004). |
| Born |
30 March 1926 (1926-03-30) (age 85)
Älmhult, Kronoberg County |
| Occupation |
Entrepreneur |
| Net worth |
 US$6 billion (2011)[1] |
| Spouse |
Margaretha (Deceased 12-12-2011) |
| Children |
4 children: sons Peter, Jonas and Matthias; daughter: Annika Kihlbom [2] |
Ingvar Feodor Kamprad (
pronunciation (help·info); born 30 March 1926) is a Swedish business magnate and the founder of IKEA, a retail company.
According to Forbes magazine, as of 2011 he is the 162nd wealthiest person in the world with an estimated net worth of around US$6 billion in 2011.[3] According to Swedish business weekly Veckans Affärer,[4] he is the wealthiest person in the world with an estimated wealth of between $50bn and $90bn, owning the IKEA franchise through Interogo Foundation and Stichting INGKA Foundation.
Biography
Early life
Ingvar Kamprad was born in Pjätteryd, now part of Älmhult Municipality, and grew up on a farm called Elmtaryd (now spelled Älmtaryd), near the small village of Agunnaryd in Ljungby Municipality in the province of Småland, Sweden.
He is a second generation Swede of German descent, his grandfather having moved the family to Sweden from Germany.
Late life
Kamprads second wife Margareta passed away from an undisclosed disease the 12th of December 2011[5]
Career
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 ballpoint pens and pencils. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him a cash reward for succeeding in his studies.[6]
IKEA was founded in 1943 at his uncle Ernst's kitchen table.[7] In 1948, Kamprad diversified his portfolio, adding furniture. His business was mostly-mail order.[8]
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 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 240, flies only economy class, and encourages IKEA employees always to write on both sides of a paper.[9] He reportedly recycles tea bags and is known to pocket the salt and pepper packets at restaurants."[10] In addition, Kamprad has been known to visit IKEA for a "cheap meal." He is also known to buy Christmas paper and presents in post-Christmas sales. The firm he created is still known for the attention it gives to cost control, operational details and continuous product development, allowing it to lower its prices by an of average 2-3% over the decade to 2010, while continuing its global expansion.[11] Kamprad explains his social philosophy thusly in his "A Furniture Dealer's Testament," "It is not only for cost reasons that we avoid the luxury hotels. We don't need flashy cars, impressive titles, uniforms or other status symbols. We rely on our strength and our will!" [12]
Despite this, Kamprad allows himself some luxuries; he owns a villa in an upmarket part of Switzerland, a large country estate in Sweden, and a vineyard in Provence, France; he also drove a Porsche for several years.[13][14][15]
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.[16]
Net worth
According to Swedish business weekly Veckans Affärer,[17] he is one of the wealthiest people 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 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.[18]
As of March 2007, Ingvar Kamprad was the fourth wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine, with an estimated net worth of US$33 billion.[19] In March 2010, Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at US$23 billion, making him the 11th richest person in the world. Though, as of March 2011, Kamprad's net worth had declined substantially (down US$17 billion) to a final value of US$6 billion. He had fallen from 11th spot on Forbes to 162nd because his lawyers produced documents that prove the foundation he created, and heads, in Liechtenstein owns IKEA, and its bylaws bar him and his family from benefiting from its funds.[1]
Stichting INGKA Foundation
The Dutch-registered Stichting INGKA Foundation is named after Ingvar Kamprad (i.e. ING + KA) who 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 corporate tax-optimization and anti-takeover protection for IKEA.[18] Kamprad is chairman of the foundation.
Works
While generally a private person, 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.[20]
Fascist involvement
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-fascist New Swedish Movement 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.[21] Kamprad devotes two chapters to his time in Nysvenska Rörelsen in his book, Leading By Design: The IKEA Story and, in a 1994 letter to IKEA employees, called his affiliation with the organization the "greatest mistake of his life."[6] In 2011, journalist Elisabeth Åsbrink revealed that the Swedish secret service created a file on Kamprad already in 1943 titled "Nazi" and that Kamprad in a interview 2010 told her: "Per Engdahl is a great man, and I will maintain that as long as I live".[22]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Kamprad topic page at Forbes.com". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/profile/Ingvar-Kamprad. Retrieved April 2010.
- ^ "He lives in a bungalow, flies easyJet and 'dries out' three times a year... the man who founded Ikea and is worth £15bn". Daily Mail (London). April 14, 2008. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-559487/He-lives-bungalow-flies-easyJet-dries-times-year--man-founded-Ikea-worth-pound-15bn.html.
- ^ Kamprad topic page at Forbes.com Forbes.com. Accessed April 2010.
- ^ "Who's really the world's richest?" CNNMoney.com, April 6, 2004
- ^ http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article14071288.ab
- ^ a b Ingvar Kamprad: IKEA Founder and One of the World's Richest People About.com Entrepreneurs
- ^ Collins, Lauren (October 3, 2011). "House Perfect". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_collins. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ Collins, Lauren (October 3, 2011). "House Perfect". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_collins. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ "Cheap is good, says furniture magnate" NZZ Online, March 27, 2006
- ^ Collins, Lauren (October 3, 2011). "House Perfect". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_collins. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ Global Players: Ingvar Kamprad, Founder and Chief Advisor, IKEA
- ^ Collins, Lauren (October 3, 2011). "House Perfect". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_collins. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ Ikea-Kamprads lyxvillor, Expressen, August 22, 2004
- ^ Folkhemsmöbleraren 80 år, Dagens Industri, March 29, 2006
- ^ Lyxhusen som Kamprad vill tala tyst om, Dagens Nyheter, August 19, 2004
- ^ "It started in a shed" The Age, July 15, 2004
- ^ "Who's really the world's richest?" CNNMoney.com, April 6, 2004
- ^ a b "IKEA: Flat-pack accounting". The Economist. May 11, 2006. http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6919139. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
- ^ #4 Ingvar Kamprad & family, Forbes Magazine, October 7, 2007
- ^ Kamprad, Ingvar and Torekull, Bertil Leading By Design: The IKEA Story Harper Collins, Sept.1, 1999. ISBN 978-0-06-662038-1
- ^ Nilsson, Karl N. Alvar Svensk överklass och högerextremism under 1900-talet ISBN 91-86474-34-0 pp. 155-156
- ^ "Kamprad djupt inblandad i nazistisk rörelse". Sveriges Radio - Ekot. 23 augusti 2011. http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=4660032. (Swedish) (Kamprad deeply involved in Nazi movement)
External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
Kamprad, Ingvar |
| Alternative names |
Kamprad, Ingvar Feodor |
| Short description |
Entrepreneur |
| Date of birth |
March 30, 1926 |
| Place of birth |
Älmtaryd, Sweden |
| Date of death |
|
| Place of death |
|
