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Ingvar Kamprad

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Ingvar Kamprad
Born (1926-03-30) March 30, 1926 (age 100)
Pjätteryd, Kronobergs län, Sweden
DiedJanuary 27, 2018(2018-01-27) (aged 91)
Småland, Sweden
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, businessman
Years active1943–2013
Known forFounder of IKEA

Feodor Ingvar Kamprad (; 30 March 1926 – 27 January 2018) was a Swedish entrepreneur and billionaire who established IKEA in 1943. He transformed the company into a global retail powerhouse, making it the leading furniture retailer worldwide by 2008. In 1976, he moved to Switzerland with his Swiss spouse, later returning to Småland in 2014 following her passing in 2011.

Early life and family

Kamprad was born in Pjätteryd, now incorporated into Älmhult Municipality, located in Kronobergs län, Sweden. His parents were Feodor Kamprad (1893–1984) and Berta Nilsson (1901–1956). While his mother was of Swedish descent, his father had immigrated from the German Empire during childhood. Kamprad’s paternal grandfather, Achim Erdmann Kamprad, originated from a noble German lineage in Thuringia, whereas his grandmother, Franzisca Glatz, descended from a working-class family in Bohemia. Due to financial difficulties and familial estrangement, they relocated to Sweden in 1896 and acquired a timber estate near Agunnaryd.

The Kamprad family name dates back to the 14th century and is derived from "Kamerade" ("Comrade"). By the 19th century, it was associated with affluent landowners in Thuringia. Achim Kamprad, the younger son of a prominent estate owner, purchased the Elmtaryd farm adjacent to Agunnaryd, which was among the largest properties locally. Following Achim’s suicide during Ingvar’s youth, ownership passed first to Franzisca and subsequently to Ingvar himself. From the age of six, Kamprad resided on this farm with his family.

Kamprad maintained connections with relatives residing in his ancestral town in Thuringia.

Career

Kamprad embarked on his business ventures at a young age, initially selling matches when he was five years old. He later expanded his offerings to include fish, Christmas ornaments, seeds, and stationery items. By age seven, he was delivering goods purchased wholesale at discounted prices to neighbors via bicycle for profit. At seventeen, after receiving a monetary gift from his father for academic achievement, Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 at his uncle Ernst's kitchen table while studying at Gothenburg’s Handelsinstitut. In 1948, he broadened IKEA’s focus to include furniture sales predominantly through mail order. The IKEA name is an acronym combining his initials (Ingvar Kamprad) with those of his family farm (Elmtaryd) and nearby village (Agunnaryd).

In June 2013, Kamprad resigned from the board of Inter IKEA Holding SA and was succeeded by his youngest son Mathias Kamprad as chairman. This change signaled a generational leadership transition, with Mathias and his elder brothers playing active roles in shaping IKEA’s future strategic direction and corporate objectives.

Net worth and Stichting INGKA Foundation

The Dutch-registered Stichting INGKA Foundation, named after Ingvar Kamprad (ING + KA), holds ownership of INGKA Holding, which controls all IKEA retail outlets globally. Kamprad served as chairman of this foundation.

In 2004, Veckans Affärer identified Kamprad among the world’s wealthiest individuals; however, this estimation presumed full personal ownership of IKEA—a claim disputed by both IKEA and the Kamprad family since he had transferred ownership rights to the foundation.

By March 2010, Forbes valued Kamprad’s net worth at approximately US$23 billion, ranking him as the eleventh richest person worldwide. However, a year later his position fell to 162nd after revelations that a Liechtenstein foundation owned IKEA and that neither Kamprad nor his family benefited financially from it. As of June 2015, Bloomberg ranked him eighth wealthiest with an estimated fortune of $58.7 billion, while Forbes reported $3.5 billion as of March that year.

Works

Kamprad, known for his private nature, produced influential writings that conveyed his business ethos. In 1976, he released A Testament of a Furniture Dealer, a publication that elaborated on his values of simplicity and economical living.

Additionally, he collaborated with journalist Bertil Torekull on Leading by Design: The IKEA Story, an autobiographical work highlighting his leadership style and chronicling the obstacles and achievements encountered during IKEA's establishment.

Fascist involvement

Documents surfaced in 1994 revealing that Kamprad joined the pro-fascist New Swedish Movement (Nysvenska Rörelsen) at the age of 16 in 1942 and remained involved until at least 1945. His association with fascist figure Per Engdahl persisted into the early 1950s.

Kamprad discussed this chapter of his life in two sections of Leading by Design, describing his membership as "the greatest mistake of my life" in a letter addressed to IKEA staff in 1994. He attributed his youthful political alignment to influences from his father and grandmother, who had ties to Sudet-Germany.

Subsequent investigations uncovered more extensive connections to Nazi entities; author Elisabeth Åsbrink disclosed that Kamprad actively recruited for the Swedish Nazi organization Svensk Socialistisk Samling (SSS) during his adolescence. The Swedish security service monitored him in 1943—the same year IKEA was founded. Although Kamprad had previously acknowledged his past, Åsbrink's research implies his Nazi sympathies extended beyond the Second World War. In a 2010 interview, Kamprad referred to Engdahl as "a great man," despite having expressed deep regret over his involvement with these groups.

Personal life

Kamprad and his first spouse, Kerstin Wadling, adopted a daughter named Annika in 1958. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1961, with Annika residing with her mother thereafter.

During the 1960s, Kamprad married Margaretha Kamprad-Stennert (1938–2011), his second wife, and together they had three sons: Peter, Jonas, and Mathias.

From 1976 until 2014, he resided in Épalinges, Switzerland, before relocating back to Småland, Sweden. Early in his career, while collaborating with Polish furniture producers, Kamprad faced struggles with alcoholism but managed it through consistent treatment programs.

Renowned for his thriftiness, Kamprad drove a 1993 Volvo 240, preferred economy flights, reused tea bags, and promoted cost-saving measures among IKEA personnel. He frequently dined at IKEA’s affordable cafeterias and took advantage of post-holiday sales for gift purchases. This personal austerity mirrored IKEA’s corporate approach emphasizing stringent cost management and ongoing product innovation, which facilitated annual price reductions of 2–3% up to 2010 alongside international growth. Kamprad encapsulated this mindset in his Testament of a Furniture Dealer: "We don't need flashy cars, impressive titles, uniforms or other status symbols. We rely on our strength and our will!"

Despite leading a modest lifestyle, Kamprad possessed various properties including a Swiss villa, an expansive Swedish estate, and a vineyard located in Provence. He also owned a Porsche for several years.

Death

Kamprad passed away peacefully in his sleep from pneumonia at his residence in Småland, Sweden, on 27 January 2018 at the age of 91. His will stipulated that half of his fortune be allocated toward development initiatives in Norrland, the sparsely inhabited northern region of Sweden, reflecting his commitment to fostering opportunities for youth there. The remainder was divided among his four children. In 2015, Kamprad designated his sons as the exclusive heirs to the Ikano Group, valued at approximately US$1.5 billion, while his adopted daughter Annika was set to inherit around $300,000.

See also

External links

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