Ingvar Kamprad passed away on Saturday in his home in Älmhult, Sweden, following a short illness, according to reports. The founder of furniture retailer Ikea died at the age of 91 surrounded by his loved ones, according to a statement released by the company. Kamprad founded IKEA at the age of 17, peddling matches, fish and Christmas cards by bicycle. The company’s name is a combination of the initials of his first and last name, his family farm and the nearest village.
He opened his first furniture store in 1947 and built it into one of the world’s largest and most successful retailers, which today has revenues of nearly $46 billion. Known for his relentless pursuit of efficiency, Kamprad introduced the flat-pack in 1953, then moved production of his cheap chic furniture to Soviet Poland in 1961 to minimize labor costs.
On the way to growing his home furnishings empire, he published the Furniture Dealer's Testament or the "Ikea Bible," which includes maxims such as "wasting resources is a mortal sin at Ikea." Between 2005 and 2010, Kamprad was estimated to be one of the 10 richest people in the world by FORBES, worth as much as $28 billion based largely on the value of Ikea.
He ranked as high as number four twice on the World’s Billionaires rankings. His net worth would have been much higher today, probably upwards of $60 billion, had he not denied owning Ikea. In 2011 his net worth fell dramatically after his lawyers presented documents detailing how the ownership of Ikea had been irrevocably transferred to a foundation in tax haven Lichtenstein decades earlier.
Interests in banking, real estate and insurance outside of Ikea still earned him a status as billionaire. Forbes removed him from the billionaires list in 2016 after he transferred his assets to three of his sons - Peter, Mathias and Jonas - all of whom are billionaires.
