Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad dead aged 91 – furniture guru passed away at home surrounded by family
The flat-pack furniture giant confirmed he passed away at home yesterday in Småland, Sweden
THE FOUNDER of Ikea, Ingvar Kamprad, has died aged 91.
The flat-pack furniture giant confirmed he passed away peacefully at his home yesterday in Småland.
A statement said: "The founder of IKEA and Ikano, and one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century, Ingvar Kamprad, has peacefully passed away, at his home in Smaland, Sweden, on the 27th of January.
"Ingvar will be very missed and warmly remembered by his family and IKEA colleagues around the world."
Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, chairman of Ingka Holding, Ikea's parent company told : "He was one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the 20th century, perhaps even the biggest"
Kamprad started the Swedish furniture company in 1943 when he was just 17 and sold replicas of his uncle Ernst's kitchen table.
The company has since become one of the biggest in the world with more than 300 stores in 28 countries.
Kamprad resigned from the board in 2013 when he was aged 87.
Jesper Brodin, Ikea's President and CEO, said: "It is of course a sad day for everyone in Ikea and for all of us who knew Ingvar.
"Ingvar was 91 years old and in a way we were mentally prepared for this, but the first thing you feel is that you're sorry."
He added: "I have many nice memories, but above all he was a genuine entrepreneur, genuine person who lived easily and someone who constantly interested in the future and what could be better."
Kamprad was born in 1926 in Smålandand and began his business career aged just five when he bought matches in bulk and sold them off individually.
He then expanded and started flogging fish, Christmas tree decorations and pens and pencils.
When he turned 17, his dad gave him cash as a reward for his success in school despite his dyslexia and he used it to begin Ikea.
The name is an acronym of his name, plus Elmtaryd - the farm where he was born - and the nearby village of Agunnaryd.
Kamprad got the idea of flat pack furniture when he was struggling to fit a table in a car and his pal suggested he take the legs off.
He began selling furniture in a mail-order catalogue in 1950 - pieces that were produced by local manufacturers in the forests close to his home.
The tycoon opened his first store in 1965, but winds smashed the neon sign and caused a fire, which burned it down.
The billionaire, who was once listed as the world's fourth-richest man, was thrifty - he drove a 1993 Volvo, and even bought his clothes second from a flea market to set an example.
Kamprad, whose fortune was once estimated at £51 billion, bought Christmas presents in post-December 25 sales and visited Ikea for a "cheap meal".
The dad of four even furnished his home with Ikea pieces he assembled himself and took budget easyJet flights.
But he found himself under fire when it emerged he was a former Nazi sympathiser following the Second World War.
In 1994, Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that Kamprad had contacts with Swedish fascist leader Per Engdahl in the 1940s and 1950s.
MOST READ IN NEWS
In a letter to IKEA employees, Kamprad admitted that he once had sympathies for the far-right leader and called it "a part of my life which I bitterly regret."
Four years later, he bought out a book where he divulged more details about his youthful "delusions," saying he had been influenced as child by his German grandmother's strong support for Hitler.
The book also contained details about his struggles with alcohol and his successes and failures in business.