31 Facts About Ingvar Kamprad

Ingvar Kamprad moved to Switzerland with his Swiss wife in 1976, moving back to Smaland in 2014 after her death in 2011.

Ingvar Kamprad's 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.

Ingvar Kamprad's paternal grandfather, Achim Erdmann Ingvar Kamprad, was originally from an aristocratic German family in Altenburger Land in Thuringia, while his paternal grandmother, Franzisca Glatz, was born in Radonitz in Bohemia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to a lower-class family.

The surname Ingvar Kamprad is a variant of "Kamerade" and dates back to the 14th century; in the 19th century the Ingvar Kamprad family had become wealthy estate owners in Thuringia.

Achim Ingvar Kamprad's mother was a distant relative of Paul von Hindenburg.

Ingvar Kamprad took his own life a few years after Frans Feodor was born, leaving the farm to Franzisca, and with time, to Franz Feodor.

Ingvar Kamprad visited his family's ancestral town in Thuringia and kept in contact with relatives there.

Ingvar Kamprad began to develop a business as a young boy.

Ingvar Kamprad started selling matches at the age of five.

Ingvar Kamprad found he could buy matches in bulk very cheaply in Stockholm, sell them individually at a low price, and still make a good profit.

When Ingvar Kamprad was 17, his father gave him a cash reward for succeeding in his studies.

Ingvar Kamprad attended Gothenburg's Handelsinstitut, now part of Hvitfeldtska Gymnasiet, from 1943 to 1945.

In 1943, when he was 17 Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA at his uncle Ernst's kitchen table.

Between the founding of IKEA and his board resignation in 1946, Ingvar Kamprad was an author.

In June 2013, Ingvar Kamprad resigned from the board of Inter IKEA Holding SA and his youngest son Mathias Ingvar Kamprad replaced Per Ludvigsson as the chairman of the holding company.

However, the report was based on the assumption that he owned the entire company, an approach both IKEA and the Ingvar Kamprad family rejected since Ingvar Kamprad retained little direct ownership in the company, having transferred his interest to the foundation.

Ingvar Kamprad worked with Swedish journalist Bertil Torekull on Leading by Design: The IKEA Story.

In 1994, the personal letters of the Swedish fascist Per Engdahl were made public, posthumously revealing that Ingvar Kamprad had joined Engdahl's pro-fascist New Swedish Movement in 1942, at age 16.

Ingvar Kamprad had been active till as late as September 1945.

Ingvar Kamprad devoted two chapters to his time in Nysvenska Rorelsen 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".

Ingvar Kamprad explained his teenage engagement in New Swedish Movement as being politically influenced by his father and grandmother in Sudet-Germany.

Author Elisabeth Asbrink's book reveals that Ingvar Kamprad actively recruited members for the Swedish Nazi group Svensk Socialistisk Samling during his youth.

Ingvar Kamprad had previously described his involvement with these groups as the "greatest mistake" of his life.

Wadling and Ingvar Kamprad divorced in 1961 with Annika living with her mother.

Ingvar Kamprad lived in Epalinges, Switzerland, from 1976 to 2014.

Ingvar Kamprad moved back to Smaland in Sweden in March 2014 after nearly forty years away.

In 2004, he said that his drinking was under control, and according to The New York Times, Ingvar Kamprad "controlled it by drying out three times a year".

Ingvar Kamprad reportedly recycled tea bags and was known to keep the salt and pepper packets in restaurants.

Ingvar Kamprad had been known to visit IKEA for a "cheap meal", and was known for his frugal behaviour; purchasing wrapping paper and presents in post-Christmas sales.

Ingvar Kamprad died in his sleep of pneumonia at his home in Smaland, Sweden, on 27 January 2018 at the age of 91.

Ingvar Kamprad reportedly wanted to develop Norrland and make it possible for young people to live there.