Editing Ingvar Kamprad

{{short description|Swedish founder of IKEA (1926–2018)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ingvar Kamprad
| image              = Ingvar Kamprad Haparanda June 2010.jpg
| alt                = Kamprad holding a microphone
| caption            = Kamprad in 2010
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1926|03|30|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Älmhult Municipality|Pjätteryd]], Sweden
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2018|01|27|1926|03|30|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Älmhult]], Sweden
| occupation         = Businessman
| spouse             = {{ubl|{{Marriage|Kerstin Wadling|1950|1960|reason=div}}|{{Marriage|Margaretha Stennert|1963|2011|reason=died}}<ref name="SE">[https://sweden.se/business/ingvar-kamprad-founder-of-ikea "Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA"], sweden.se. Retrieved 28 January 2018.</ref>}}
| children           = 4<ref name="Forbes profile">{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/ingvar-kamprad/ |title=Forbes profile: Ingvar Kamprad & family |website=[[Forbes]] }}</ref>
| known_for          = Founder of [[IKEA]]
| signature          = Ingvar Kamprad Signature.svg
}}

'''Feodor Ingvar Kamprad''' ({{IPA|sv|ˈɪ̌ŋːvar ˈkǎmːprad|lang|Sv-Ingvar Kamprad 2.ogg}}; 30 March 1926&nbsp;– 27 January 2018) was a Swedish billionaire {{nowrap|[[business magnate]]}} who founded [[IKEA]] in 1943 and grew into a multinational retail company that became the world's largest furniture seller in 2008. He moved to Switzerland with his Swiss wife in 1976, moving back to [[Småland]] in 2014 after her death in 2011.

==Early life and family==
Kamprad was born in Pjätteryd (now part of [[Älmhult Municipality]]), [[Kronoberg County|Kronobergs län]], in [[Småland]], Sweden, to Feodor Kamprad (1893–1984) and Berta Linnea Matilda Nilsson (1901–1956). His mother was of Swedish origin, while his father was born in the [[German Empire]] and came to Sweden a year after his birth with his parents. Kamprad's paternal grandfather, Achim Erdmann Kamprad, was originally from an aristocratic German family in [[Altenburger Land]] in [[Thuringia]], while his paternal grandmother, Franzisca ("Fanny") Glatz, was born in [[Radonice (Chomutov District)|Radonitz (Radonice)]] in [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] in the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] to a lower-class family. Facing rejection from his family and economic hardship in post-industrial Germany are likely what spurred Achim and Franzisca to leave their homeland and, after seeing an ad in a hunting magazine, purchase a timber estate near Agunnaryd, Sweden, where they moved with their young children in the winter of 1896.<ref>[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/03/house-perfect], ''The New Yorker''. Retrieved 19 December 2024</ref><ref>[https://ikeamuseum.com/en/explore/the-story-of-ikea/meet-ingvar-kamprad/], ikeamuseum.com. Retrieved 19 December 2024</ref> 

The surname Kamprad is a variant of "Kamerade" ("Comrade") and dates back to the 14th century; in the 19th century the Kamprad family had become wealthy estate owners in Thuringia. Achim Kamprad's mother was a distant relative of [[Paul von Hindenburg]].<ref name=ts>Thomas Sjöberg [https://books.google.com/books?id=MKYCCgAAQBAJ Ingvar Kamprad och hans IKEA: En svensk saga] Chapter 3</ref>  Achim was the younger son of an estate owner and had bought the farm Elmtaryd (presently standardized ''Älmtaryd'') near the small village of [[Agunnaryd]] (now part of [[Ljungby Municipality]]) in the province of Småland; with {{convert|449|ha}} of land it was the largest farm in the area. He took his own life a few years after Frans Feodor was born, leaving the farm to Franzisca, and with time, to Franz Feodor. From the age of 6 onwards, Ingvar Kamprad lived on the farm with his parents, sister, and grandmother.<ref>Thomas Sjöberg [https://books.google.com/books?id=MKYCCgAAQBAJ Ingvar Kamprad och hans IKEA: En svensk saga] Chapter 3,4 and 5</ref>

Kamprad visited his family's ancestral town in Thuringia and kept in contact with relatives there.<ref>[http://www.zeit.de/2013/09/Ikea-Thueringen-Ingvar-Kamprad Schöne Grüße von Ingvar], ''Die Zeit''. Retrieved 28 January 2018.{{in lang|de}}</ref>

==Career==
Kamprad began to develop a business as a young boy.  He started selling matches at the age of five.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/the-swedish-entrepreneur-who-founded-ikea-ingvar-kamprad-dies-at-91.html |title=The Swedish Entrepreneur Who Founded Ikea, Ingvar Kamprad, Dies at 91 |last=Politi |first=Daniel |work=Slate|access-date=28 January 2018 |language=en}}</ref> When he was seven he began travelling further afield on his bicycle to [[peddle]] to neighbours. He found he could buy matches in bulk very cheaply in [[Stockholm]], sell them individually at a low price, and still make a good profit. From matches he expanded to selling fish, [[Christmas tree#Decoration and ornaments|Christmas tree decorations]], seeds, and later ballpoint pens and pencils.<ref name=":0" /> When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him a cash reward for succeeding in his studies.<ref name="about.com">[http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/famousentrepreneur/p/ingvarkamprad.htm Ingvar Kamprad: IKEA Founder and One of the World's Richest People] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303014700/http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/famousentrepreneur/p/ingvarkamprad.htm |date=3 March 2012 }} [[About.com]] Entrepreneurs</ref>

Ingvar attended Gothenburg's Handelsinstitut, now part of [[Hvitfeldtska Gymnasiet]], from 1943 to 1945. In 1943, when he was 17 Kamprad founded IKEA at his uncle Ernst's kitchen table.<ref name="Collins">{{cite news |last=Collins |first=Lauren |title=House Perfect |url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_collins |access-date=10 October 2011 |newspaper=The New Yorker |date=3 October 2011}}</ref> In 1948, Kamprad diversified his portfolio, adding furniture. His business was mostly [[mail order]].<ref name="Collins"/> The acronym IKEA is made up of the initials of his name ('''I'''ngvar '''K'''amprad) plus those of '''E'''lmtaryd, the family farm where he was born, and the nearby village '''A'''gunnaryd where he was raised.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Jonas Fredén (24 September 2015)[https://sweden.se/business/ingvar-kamprad-founder-of-ikea/ Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA] Sweden.se</ref>

In June 2013, Kamprad resigned from the board of Inter IKEA Holding SA and his youngest son Mathias Kamprad replaced Per Ludvigsson as the chairman of the holding company. Following his decision to step down the then-87-year-old founder explained, "I see this as a good time for me to leave the board of Inter IKEA Group. By that we are also taking another step in the generation shift that has been ongoing for some years." Mathias and his two older brothers, who also have leadership roles at IKEA, work on the corporation's overall vision and long-term strategy.<ref>{{cite news |title=IKEA's new chairman likes PAX wardrobes, and that's about all we know |url=http://qz.com/91159/ikeas-new-chairman-likes-pax-wardrobes-and-thats-about-all-we-know/ |access-date=6 June 2015
|newspaper=Quartz |date=5 June 2013 |author=Gina Chon}}</ref>

== Net worth and Stichting INGKA Foundation ==
The Dutch-registered [[Stichting INGKA Foundation]] is named after Ingvar Kamprad (i.e., ING + KA) which owns [[INGKA Holding]], the [[parent company]] for all IKEA stores. Kamprad was chairman of the foundation.<ref name="flatpack" /> 

According to an article in the Swedish business weekly ''[[Veckans Affärer]]'' in 2004, Kamprad was one of the world's wealthiest people.<ref name="Who's really the world's richest?">[https://money.cnn.com/2004/04/06/news/newsmakers/worldswealthiestupdate/ "Who's really the world's richest?"] CNNMoney.com, 6 April 2004</ref> However, the report was based on the assumption that he owned the entire company, an approach both IKEA and the Kamprad family rejected since Kamprad retained little direct ownership in the company, having transferred his interest to the foundation.<ref name="flatpack">{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6919139 |title=IKEA: Flat-pack accounting |access-date=14 August 2021 |newspaper=The Economist |date=11 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802172213/https://www.economist.com/business/2006/05/11/flat-pack-accounting |archive-date=2 August 2018}}</ref>

In March 2010, ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine estimated Kamprad's fortune at US$23&nbsp;billion, making him the eleventh [[richest person in the world]]. A year later, he fell to 162nd after his lawyers produced documents proving that the foundation he established and heads in [[Liechtenstein]] owns IKEA, and that its bylaws bar him and his family from benefiting from its funds.<ref name=Forbes /> In June 2015, Kamprad was listed as the eighth wealthiest person in the world in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of $58.7&nbsp;billion. Forbes reported Kamprad's net worth as of March 2015 to be $3.5&nbsp;billion.<ref name=Forbes>{{cite magazine |title=Ingvar Kamprad |access-date=17 April 2022 |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/ingvar-kamprad/ |magazine=Forbes}}</ref>

== Works ==
While generally a private person, Kamprad published a few notable works. He first detailed his philosophies of frugality and simplicity in a manifesto entitled ''A Testament of a Furniture Dealer'' in 1976.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,336379,00.html The gospel according to Ikea] ''The Guardian'', 26 June 2000</ref>

Kamprad also worked with Swedish journalist Bertil Torekull on ''Leading by Design: The IKEA Story''. In the autobiographical book, Kamprad further describes his philosophies and the trials and triumphs of the founding of IKEA.<ref>Kamprad, Ingvar and Torekull, Bertil ''Leading By Design: The IKEA Story'' Harper Collins, Sept.1, 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-06-662038-1}}</ref>

== Fascist involvement ==
In 1994, the personal letters of the Swedish fascist [[Per Engdahl]] were made public, posthumously revealing that Kamprad had joined Engdahl's pro-fascist [[New Swedish Movement]] (''Nysvenska Rörelsen'') in 1942, at age 16.<ref name="flatpack" /><ref>{{Cite web |author-link=Glenn Adamson |date=20 February 2021 |title=The Communist Designer, the Fascist Furniture Dealer, and the Politics of Design |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/enzo-mari-ikea-design/ |access-date=25 January 2025 |website=[[The Nation]]}}</ref>  Kamprad had been active till as late as September 1945.<ref name="flatpack" /> When he quit the group is unknown, but he remained a friend of Engdahl until the early 1950s.<ref>Nilsson, Karl N. Alvar ''Svensk överklass och högerextremism under 1900-talet'' {{ISBN|91-86474-34-0}} pp. 155–156.</ref>

Kamprad devoted 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 my life".<ref name="about.com"/> Kamprad explained his teenage engagement in New Swedish Movement as being politically influenced by his father and grandmother in [[Sudetenland|Sudet-Germany]].<ref>Kamprad I, Torekull, B: "Historien om IKEA: Ingvar Kamprad berättar för Bertil Torekull", Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm 1998, {{ISBN|91-46-17065-0}}.</ref>

According to sources from 2011, he had deeper ties to [[Nazism|Nazi]] organizations than previously acknowledged. Author [[Elisabeth Åsbrink]]'s book reveals that Kamprad actively recruited members for the Swedish Nazi group [[Svensk Socialistisk Samling]] (SSS) during his youth. Swedish security police took note of his activities in 1943, the same year he established IKEA. Despite earlier admissions of associating with fascist leader Per Engdahl and involvement with the New Swedish Movement from 1942 to 1945, Åsbrink's findings suggest Kamprad's engagement with Nazi sympathizers extended beyond [[World War II]]. In a 2010 interview, Kamprad reportedly referred to Engdahl as "a great man," indicating lasting admiration. Kamprad had previously described his involvement with these groups as the "greatest mistake" of his life.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 August 2011 |title=Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad's Nazi ties 'went deeper' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14661582 |access-date=23 March 2025 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=24 August 2011 |title=Author: IKEA founder didn't come clean on Nazi links |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna44261453 |access-date=23 March 2025 |publisher=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Kamprad and his first wife Kerstin Wadling adopted a daughter, Annika in 1958.<ref name="SE"/> Wadling and Kamprad divorced in 1961 with Annika living with her mother.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |title=Swedish News: Ikea Kamprad's Daughter Snubbed |url=http://www.nordstjernan.com/news/sweden/3720/ |access-date=2 November 2015 |publisher=Norstjernan}}</ref>

In the 1960s, Kamprad married his second wife, Margaretha Kamprad-Stennert (1938–2011), whom he met when she was twenty years old.<ref>[http://www.thelocal.se/20111213/37904 "Ikea founder mourns death of his wife"]. ''The Local''. December 2011.</ref> They had three sons: Peter, [[Jonas Kamprad|Jonas]] and Mathias.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article14071288.ab |title=Ingvar Kamprad i stor sorg |work=Aftonbladet}}</ref><ref>[http://www.thelocal.se/37904/20111213/ "Ikea founder mourns death of his wife"]. ''The Local''. 13 December 2011.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 January 2018 |title=OBITUARY Ingvar Kamprad |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/obituary-ingvar-kamprad-s6rpvjfxm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221023001733/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/obituary-ingvar-kamprad-s6rpvjfxm |archive-date=23 October 2022 |access-date=23 October 2022 |url-status=live |website=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

He lived in [[Épalinges]], Switzerland, from 1976 to 2014. Kamprad moved back to Småland in Sweden in March 2014 after nearly forty years away.<ref>Mats Bax et al.:[http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/ingvar-kamprad-flyttar-hem-till-sverige-igen/ Ingvar Kamprad flyttar hem till Sverige igen] {{in lang|sv}} [[Expressen]]. Retrieved 27 June 2013</ref><ref name="THELOCAL">[http://www.thelocal.se/20140320/ikea-founder-moves-back-to-sweden-after-40-years "Ikea founder moves back to Sweden after 40 years"], ''thelocal.se'', 20 March 2014</ref> While working with furniture manufacturers in Poland earlier in his career, Kamprad became an alcoholic. In 2004, he said that his drinking was under control,<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/14/1089694424455.html? "It started in a shed"] The Age, 15 July 2004</ref> and according to ''The New York Times'', Kamprad "controlled it by drying out three times a year".<ref name=McFaddenNYT />

According to a 2006 interview, Kamprad was then driving a 1993 [[Volvo 240]], flew [[economy class]], and encouraged IKEA employees to use both sides of a page when writing or printing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cheap is good, says furniture magnate |work=[[Neue Zürcher Zeitung]] |date=27 March 2006 |url=http://www.nzz.ch/2006/03/27/eng/article6579085.html |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060821110918/http://www.nzz.ch/2006/03/27/eng/article6579085.html |archive-date=21 August 2006}}</ref> He reportedly recycled tea bags and was known to keep the salt and pepper packets in restaurants.<ref name="Collins"/>  Kamprad had also been known to visit IKEA for a "cheap meal", and was known for his frugal behaviour; purchasing [[gift wrapping|wrapping paper]] and presents in post-Christmas sales. The company 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 average of 2–3% over the decade to 2010, while continuing its global expansion. Kamprad explains his social philosophy in his ''Testament of a Furniture Dealer'': "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!"<ref name="Collins"/> Kamprad owned a villa in Switzerland, a large [[country estate]] in Sweden and a [[vineyard]] in Provence, France. Kamprad drove a [[Porsche]] for several years.<ref>[http://www.expressen.se/index.jsp?a=174191 Ikea-Kamprads lyxvillor], ''Expressen'', 22 August 2004</ref><ref>[http://di.se/Nyheter/?page=%2fAvdelningar%2fArtikel.aspx%3fO%3dIndex%26ArticleId%3d2006%5c03%5c29%5c181779 Folkhemsmöbleraren 80 år] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111182552/http://di.se/Nyheter/?page=%2FAvdelningar%2FArtikel.aspx%3FO%3DIndex&ArticleId=2006%5C03%5C29%5C181779 |date=11 January 2009 }}, Dagens Industri, 29 March 2006</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040907175615/http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=678&previousRenderType=5&d=678&a=300679 Lyxhusen som Kamprad vill tala tyst om], Dagens Nyheter, 19 August 2004</ref>

==Death==
Kamprad died in his sleep of [[pneumonia]] at his home in Småland, Sweden, on 27 January 2018 at the age of 91.<ref name="McFaddenNYT">{{cite news |author=Robert D. McFadden |date=28 January 2018 |title=Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of Ikea and Creator of a Global Empire, Dies at 91 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/obituaries/ingvar-kamprad-dies.html?emc=edit_na_20180128&nl=breaking-news&nlid=72995439&ref=headline&mtrref=undefined&gwh=C413D9FDB1DC3AC82EA97D99A1D7EF61&gwt=pay |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180128153530/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/obituaries/ingvar-kamprad-dies.html#selection-1815.0-1815.74 |archive-date=28 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/IKEASverige/status/957559400864079873|title=Ingvar Kamprad har i stillhet somnat in i sitt hem i Småland. Han föddes 1926 i Småland och redan som 17-åring grundade han IKEA. Ingvar kommer att vara mycket saknad och varmt ihågkommen av sin familj och av IKEA-medarbetare över hela världen.pic.twitter.com/RWTGtukeyI|date=28 January 2018|website=@IKEASverige|language=sv|access-date=28 January 2018}}</ref><ref>[https://www.dn.se/ekonomi/ingvar-kamprad-har-avlidit/ "Ingvar Kamprad avled på lördagen efter en kort tids sjukdom, bekräftar Ikea för DN."] ''Dagens Nyheter'', 28 January 2018.</ref> 

According to his will, half of Kamprad's estate would go to projects in [[Norrland]], the sparsely populated northern half of Sweden.<ref name="svtkamp">{{Cite web|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/norrbotten/norrland-far-del-av-ingvar-kamprads-arv|title=Norrland får del av Ingvar Kamprads arv|author=Ellika Nilsson|date=13 March 2018|via=svt.se}}</ref> Kamprad reportedly wanted to develop Norrland and make it possible for young people to live there.<ref name="svtkamp" /> 

The other half of his estate went to his four children.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 March 2018 |title=Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad's will revealed |url=https://www.dn.se/ekonomi/global-utveckling/ikea-founder-ingvar-kamprads-will-revealed/ |access-date=8 February 2025 |work=Dagens Nyheter |language=sv |issn=1101-2447}}</ref> In 2015, it was reported that Kamprad had named his sons as the sole heirs of an entity called the [[Ikano]] Group, which is valued at US$1.5&nbsp;billion, while his adopted daughter, Annika, who lived with him for three years as an infant, was planned to receive about $300,000.<ref name=":1" />

== See also ==
*''[[The World's Billionaires]]''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|d=Q216932|c=Ingvar Kamprad|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|s=no|wikt=no|species=no}}
{{Portal|Sweden|Biography}}
*[https://archive.today/20180128153530/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/obituaries/ingvar-kamprad-dies.html Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of Ikea and Creator of a Global Empire, Dies at 91] by Robert D. McFadden. ''[[New York Times]]'' obituary 28 October 2018
*[https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/obituary-ingvar-kamprad-s6rpvjfxm Ingvar Kampra Founder of Ikea, the home-furnishing giant, who made a fortune from flat-pack furniture and meatballs, but lived a simple life] ''[[The Times]]'' obituary 29 October 2018 
*[https://www.liveabout.com/ikea-founder-ingvar-kamprad-entrepreneur-profile-1200461 Ingvar Kamprad: IKEA Founder and One of the World's Richest Men] by Scott Allen, at LiveAbout 05/30/19

{{IKEA}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamprad, Ingvar}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Sweden]]
[[Category:People from Älmhult Municipality]]
[[Category:Swedish people of German descent]]
[[Category:Swedish people of Czech descent]]
[[Category:Swedish expatriates in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Swedish company founders]]
[[Category:Swedish businesspeople in retailing]]
[[Category:Swedish billionaires]]
[[Category:Swedish Nazis]]
[[Category:IKEA people]]
[[Category:People with dyslexia]]