Ingvar Kamprad Biography (IKEA) – Fun facts

Early Years of Ingvar Kamprad

1) Date Of Birth of Ingvar Kamprad

Ingvar Kamprad was born on March 30, 1926. Initially, his paternal grandfather lived in Germany but he moved to Sweden with his family.

Kamprad grew up in a small farmhouse called Elmtaryd in the village of Agunnaryd, Sweden.

2) Born To A Poor Family

Coming from a poor background, this successful entrepreneur learned great lessons at a very young age from the early experience of his family.

3) Incidents From Childhood Shaped The Man

Some incidents from his family’s past had a great impact on Ingvar Kamprad.

Long before he was born, due to the terrible financial position of his family, his grandfather shot himself in the year 1897.

From that time onwards, his grandmother took the responsibility of saving the family farm from closing down.

Many people regard this as the reason for Kamprad’s success.

Ingvar Kamprad : A Young Entrepreneur

4) Young Kamprad: Determined To Make A Mark In Business World

When he was a young boy, his father used to ask Ingvar Kamprad to wake up in the morning and milk the cows.

However, he always avoided the task and thus, his father often punished him.

One incident changed his life dramatically: he received an alarm clock as a birthday present.

He started setting the alarm for 5:30 a.m. and began a lifelong journey of success.

5) His First Business Venture At The Age Of Five

Ingvar Kamprad’s father was very worried for the future of his son, as he showed reluctance to work on the farm.

However, soon young Kamprad proved his father wrong by starting his first business venture at a very early age.

He was less than 10 years old when he first started to sell matches to the people living in his neighborhood in the Ljungby Municipality.

He bought matches in bulk from the wholesalers in Stockholm and made a good profit from selling them at a discounted price.

6) This Young Boy Expanded His Business By Reinvesting Retained Profits

From a very young age, Kamprad had good business sense and strategies.

Using the profit from selling matches, he went on to expand his business.

He reinvested his earnings from his early business to expand his product range into selling greeting cards, fish, Christmas tree decorations, ballpoint pens and pencils.

7) Kamprad’s Father Financed His First Business Venture

Kamprad was a good learner in school. To acknowledge his good performance, his father rewarded him with money.

It was at the age of 17 that Kamprad first thought of starting his own formal business organization.

He used the money given by his father to establish his business.

IKEA

8) Establishment Of IKEA

Kamprad named his small retail business as IKEA. The name was created by combining the initials of his name and the farm and village where he spent his childhood.

9) Humble Beginning Of IKEA

At the start of his business, Kamprad sold small products, such as bidding to win a contract for pencils. With the passage of time, he began to focus on more products including watches, picture frames, wallets, stockings and jewelry.

10) Rapid Expansion Of IKEA In The First Five Years

After experiencing rapid success in his first five years of trade, Ingvar Kamprad further expanded his business by providing his customers with the opportunity of mail ordering. He used milk trucks to deliver goods to customers. He also started promotion of his business by advertising in local newspapers.

11) Kamprad Used The Newspaper As A Medium Of Advertising

In 1945, Kamprad focused on expanding his business. In order to reach the maximum number of consumers, he advertised in one of the local newspapers. His advertisement received an overall positive response and resulted in a massive number of sales offers.

12) Kamprad Included Furniture In His Product Range

In 1947, Kamprad decided to include furniture in his business’s product portfolio. This furniture was manufactured by using wood from the forests near Ljungby Municipality. This expansion into the trade of furniture proved to be a success as it received a positive response from customers.

13) Kamprad Decided To Concentrate On Furniture

When Kamprad included furniture in his product range, he realized that he could be more successful if he concentrated on furniture only. Considering the success of his furniture business, Kamprad decided in 1951 to trade furniture on a larger scale so he removed other products from the catalogue.

14) The Opening Of The First IKEA Store

Initially, Kamprad received mail orders, but an important development took place in 1953 with the establishment of the first showroom by Kamprad. This showroom was launched in Älmhult and it provided a great opportunity for customers to select furniture by looking at it directly.

15) IKEA Showrooms: A Unique Experience For Consumers

When Ingvar Kamprad decided to focus entirely on his furniture business, the furniture market was very competitive. In order to distinguish IKEA from conventional furniture providers, Kamprad focused on providing a unique shopping experience to his customers. A showroom, where they could check and see the furniture before making a final purchase, enhanced the sense of satisfaction they felt.

16) Furniture Manufacturers Boycotted IKEA

Kamprad and IKEA are acknowledged for furniture innovations and designs. He first began inventing and transforming traditional furniture into new and stylish furniture in 1955. During this year, due to growing competition, IKEA had to face a boycott from furniture manufacturers. But Kamprad did not back down.

17) IKEA’s Innovation Of Self-Assembly

Kamprad brought his first invention into the furniture market soon after the boycott of local furniture manufacturers. He introduced flat packaging, which helped in minimizing transportation and shipping costs and provided increased storage capacity for inventory. This concept of self-assembly gave an edge to IKEA over its competitors.

18) Design With Quality

What made IKEA’s furniture distinct and more favored by customers is the fact that IKEA offered quality furniture at low prices. Kamprad has always been dedicated to providing his customers with good quality products. To ensure quality standards, he does quality testing of his furniture by using the standards of Swedish testing.

19) Kamprad Moved From Sweden To Save On Tax

In order to keep his company private and save it from the stringent Swedish tax regime, Kamprad left his homeland and moved to Switzerland in the late 1970s. According to recent reports, he is planning to move back to Sweden.

20) Initially IKEA Did Not Receive A Positive Response From U.S. Market

In the 1980s, IKEA launched operations in the United States, but the furniture seemed too compact to American customers. Thus, the founder learned a lesson and focused on manufacturing furniture suited for the American market.

Environmentally Conscious

21) Kamprad Emphasized Environmentally Friendly Methods Of Production

In the very beginning of IKEA, Kamprad placed importance on producing fashionable yet environmentally friendly products. He even prohibited the use of plastic bags and instead promoted the use of bags made out of renewable materials.

22) Kamprad Won Public Support With Environmentally Friendly Practices

Most IKEA stores offer popular recycling programs in association with local communities. This can include paper and cardboard, plastics, glass, compact fluorescent bulbs (also known as CFLs) and batteries.

23) Many People Consider The Environment Provided By IKEA Stores As The Reason Behind Kamprad’s Success

Kamprad knows exactly what his customers want from him and he tries his best to cater to the needs of his customers. Many of his IKEA stores have a daycare center or play place for kids so that when the parents are selecting furniture, they are not interrupted by their kids.

24) The Widespread Popularity Of IKEA Going Green

IKEA under the control of Kamprad has always given priority to eco-friendly manufacturing procedures. In 2008, Kamprad launched IKEA Green Tech. The aim of this program was to raise funds to support new businesses that are dedicated to producing environmentally friendly goods and services such as water purification systems and solar panels.

A Thriving Business

25) Encouraging People To Save Time

In most of the stores we visit, we tend to forget about the time and it takes us very long to select something for ourselves. But this is not the case with IKEA stores. Kamprad has placed clocks all around his IKEA stores so that people can manage time.

26) Striving To Satisfy His Customers

The popularity and goodwill of IKEA had grown fast, but this did not stop Kamprad from going further. In 1961, IKEA launched the OGLA café chair. This chair was designed by keeping in consideration the price and function it was to perform. In the year 1962, IKEA added the MTP bookcase in its product portfolio.

27) Opening Of The IKEA Store In Norway

Ingvar Kamprad wanted to reach his potential customers everywhere in the world. For this reason, IKEA continued to expand with the opening of a few small retail stores. Finally in the year 1963, Kamprad opened an IKEA store in Norway. It was really convenient for his customers in Norway to select the furniture pieces they wanted.

28) The Launch Of The First Warehouse By Kamprad

In 1965 Ingvar Kamprad established his first retail warehouse in Stockholm. This warehouse had a total space capacity of 45,800 square feet. The design of this store took its inspiration from the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Meanwhile, IKEA made several innovations in the world of furniture, including manufacturing of a sofa with a particleboard base.

29) Las Vegas Resistance To IKEA

Though IKEA was becoming one of the leading furniture brands and was expanding rapidly, the government of Las Vegas has resisted an IKEA establishment in the city. They saw the popularity and development of IKEA as a threat to the small furniture manufacturing business of the city.

30) Kamprad Set Up Stores Worldwide

There was no end to the success of Ingvar Kamprad. He began to expand trading all around the globe by establishing stores in different countries. By 1996, Kamprad had opened an IKEA store in Denmark and in 1973, he opened up a store in Switzerland. The next year, he began trading in Germany and later in Australia. In this way, he opened almost 114 stores in 25 different countries of the world.

Business Strategy of Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA)

31) ‘A Testament Of A Furniture Dealer’

Ingvar Kamprad is recognized for some of his remarkable business ethics. In the year 1976, he wrote “A Testament of a Furniture Dealer,” in which he described the concept of enthusiasm and frugality adopted by IKEA.

32) Kamprad Recognized For Providing Quality At Reasonable Prices

One of the many reasons for the success of Kamprad and IKEA is the approach adopted by Kamprad in his business’s operations. He offers well-designed, good-quality furniture at extremely reasonable prices.

33) Contemporary Style In Italy, UK And USA

By the 1980s, IKEA had expanded all around the world with new stores in Italy, UK, USA and France. The range of furniture offered in these stores had modern designs. Although launched in the 1980s, these designs of furniture are still quite relevant.

34) LACK And More: Some Of His Successful Furniture Pieces

Kamprad and IKEA became hugely popular because of the invention of new contemporary furniture pieces such as the LACK table. This is a type of coffee table available at reasonable prices. The LACK product range was extended by the addition of LACK shelves. Other launches include KLIPPAN and MOMENT.

35) Keeping In Close Contact With His Customers

Even as the IKEA stores spread worldwide, Kamprad never stopped visiting his stores. He is habitual in making numerous visits to IKEA stores in different countries and he loves to keep in touch with his loyal customers.

36) Ingvar Kamprad’s Unique Product Names

The strategies adopted by Kamprad are unique and due to his effective planning, he has gained huge success in his business. For IKEA, Kamprad decided to keep the proper names of his products so that it is easy for people to memorize them. Most of the products are named after cities, people or other Swedish words.

37) Promotional Tools Used By Kamprad

Even though by the 1980s, IKEA was recognized worldwide and had become one of the largest brands, Kamprad never stopped advertising and promoting IKEA. In fact, IKEA started to print its catalogue in nine different languages and printed more than 45 million copies of the catalogue.

38) World Recognition For Targeting Homosexuals In Advertisements

In the 1990s, it was not very common for a business to show or target the homosexual population in advertisements, but in 1994, Kamprad decided to target the homosexual audience through his advertisements.

39) Organizational Structure Adopted By Kamprad

The secret of Ingvar Kamprad’s success is hidden in his smart choice of organizational structure for IKEA. Although the major holding of the company is in the hands of a Dutch trust, which is owned by Kamprad’s family, many of its operations such as manufacturing, distribution and franchising are controlled by several holding companies.

40) Some People Consider The Managing Style Of Kamprad To Be Based On Religious Grounds

Typically, businesses are seen as profit-making organizations that can go to any extent to be successful, but this is not the case with Kamprad’s business. Due to the incredible business ethics adopted by Kamprad, IKEA is seen by many people as a quasi-religious business. Many people claim that these ethics were innate in Kamprad and were further refined by his early life in the farm.

Accolades for Ingvar Kamprad

41) Award for ‘Excellent Swedish Design’

Quality has always been Kamprad’s foremost priority. In 1984, he launched a number of new designs, keeping in consideration the availability of high-quality materials at low prices. This range is known as Stockholm range and it received the accolade of “Excellent Swedish Design.”

42) Lifetime Achievement Award

His unique business ideas have always impressed people very much. At the time of the 50th anniversary of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, Kamprad was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognized the ideology he adopted in running his business while keeping in consideration environmental factors.

43) Kamprad Included In World’s Richest People By Forbes Magazine

Kamprad has achieved great financial success with his business IKEA. In 2007, he was ranked fourth by Forbes magazine on the list of the world’s wealthiest people. By 2010, the ranking of Kamprad changed from fourth position to eleventh, in the March issue of Forbes magazine.

Family

44) His First Marriage

In 1950, Ingvar Kamprad married Kerstin Wadling. Their marriage ceremony was a simple affair and they adopted a daughter named Annika Kihlbom in 1958. Later, their marriage went down a rocky road and ended up in divorce, and Annika Kihlbom decided to live with her mother.

45) Second Marriage To Margaretha

A strong love bond was established between Ingvar Kamprad and his wife, Margaretha Stennert. The couple first met when Kamprad was 35 and Magaretha was 20 years old. They later tied the knot and initially lived in southern Sweden. They have spent many years of their life together residing in Switzerland and Denmark.

46) Ingvar Kamprad’s Children

Ingvar and Margaretha have three sons together, named Peter, Mathias and Jonas.

47) Ingvar Kamprad Has Praised His Wife For Her Unconditional Support

Ingvar Kamprad in many of his interviews stated that his wife has sacrificed a lot, so that Ingvar could fulfill his wish to make IKEA a success. Kamprad also said in an interview that his wife also sacrificed her career as a teacher. However, Mrs. Kamprad never complained about it and supported the business tycoon in all his highs and lows.

Written Word

48) Ingvar Kamprad Revealed His Key To Success In ‘Leading By Design’

Along with his extraordinary business skills, Kamprad wrote the book “Leading by Design” with Bertil Torekull, a Swedish journalist. In this book, he revealed some of the major factors leading to the success of his company IKEA.

49) The Business Secrets Of The Tycoon

In his book, Kamprad revealed his business strategy. He said that he believes in creating a brand that can offer furniture that has a universal appeal at a very affordable price, and told how he employs advanced and sophisticated management strategies.

50) His Belief In Leading By Example

His autobiography provides a good insight of the way Kamprad managed his business and became a business magnate. Kamprad is recognized for adopting a unique management and leadership style, which he calls “management by example.” In this regard, he sees himself as an example for others. He is quoted as saying, “If there is such a thing as good leadership, it is to give a good example. I have to do so for all the IKEA employees.”

An Inspirational Personality – Ingvar Kamprad

51) One Of The Hardest-Working People In The World

Kamprad tries to utilize most of his time in doing something productive rather than wasting time. He even encourages others to minimize time wastage.

52) A Very Simple Lifestyle

Even though he is one of the richest people in the world, his lifestyle is very simple and not that of a wealthy person. The credit for revolutionizing furniture goes to Kamprad, but he himself lives in a reasonably sized bungalow, contrary to the usual huge houses with luxurious interiors that rich people live in.

53) This Rich Business Magnate Does Not Own Expensive Rides

Most billionaires own several luxurious cars, but Ingvar Kamprad does not believe in expensive rides. Thus, he owns an old Volvo.

54) Kamprad Spotted Traveling On Buses

Kamprad has even been spotted traveling by public transport on several occasions and he also avoids taxis as he believes they overcharge their customers.

55) Traveling In Economy Class Of The Plane

He is certainly not among those who have expensive private jets or who prefer traveling in business class. Ingvar Kamprad always travels in economy class of the plane. His views regarding traveling in first class on a plane are: “I could regularly travel first class, but having money in abundance doesn’t seem like a good reason to waste it. Why should I choose first class? To be offered a glass of champagne from the air hostess? If it helped me arrive at my destination more quickly, then maybe.”

56) Avoiding Expensive Hotels

Ingvar Kamprad has exemplified good ethics, and he has shaped his lifestyle in a way that is closer to the behavior expected of him from his employees. It is reported that he does not like to stay in luxury hotels. He said, “Simple routines have a greater impact. It is not just to cut costs that we avoid luxury hotels. We do not need fancy cars, posh titles, tailor-made uniforms, or other status symbols. We rely on our own strength and our own will!”

57) Saving Money: A Hobby

The spending pattern of Kamprad surprises most people. It has been reported that Kamprad does not spend much on luxuries and he even buys Christmas gifts from post-Christmas sales when prices are relatively low.

58) Using The Possible Ways Of Cutting Down On The Costs

As far as his personal life is concerned, this businessman buys his vegetables in the afternoon because vegetables are available at cheaper rates at that time. Also, he advises his employees to follow the same routine as well.

59) Advice To Others: Quit Drinking

At one point in his career, Kamprad became an alcoholic but he soon realized that it had bad effects on his health. He is reported as suggesting to people, “There are a lot of people in Sweden in my condition, I have to clean out my kidneys and liver, and they should do the same.”

60) Kamprad’s Distinguished Style Of Addressing People

Ingvar Kamprad lives a very simple life and comes into contact with the wider world through media on very selective occasions. The things he emphasizes in his news conferences are not commonly talked about by other businesspeople. He puts the most emphasis on moral virtues such as thrift, humility, self-reliance and simplicity, which makes his public pronouncements unique and distinguished.

61) Employees Encouraged To Adopt His Way Of Life

The lifestyle adopted by Ingvar Kamprad seems strange to many people but at his organization, he encourages his staff to follow his lifestyle. He advises his employees to use both sides of a paper when writing any documentation.

62) Seeking The Help Of People From Different Quarters Of Business Life

Business genius Ingvar Kamprad does not mind taking help from other people. In fact, he seeks the help of advisors and experts including environmentalists. Moreover, to improve his business he often attends trade fairs.

63) Standing Against Discrimination

In Kamprad’s organization, all his employees are given equal rights and no discrimination is done on the basis of color, race, religion or gender. He is quoted as saying, ”There’s a lot of talk about diversity these days. When we found out that there were 18 nationalities represented here in the central inventory unit in Älmhult, I posed with all of them to show that we are all one family, regardless of race, religion or background. However, with this diversity, we don’t want to discriminate against the Swedes, either, since Swedish values and ways are the foundation for our entire business concept and philosophy.”

Preferences

64) Traditional Styles Of Furniture

Although Kamprad realizes the need for changes in the designs of the furniture, and the company is constantly evolving its designs, the catalogue of IKEA still includes some very old designs manufactured by IKEA. According to Kamprad, if we check the sales records, we can clearly see that there is no big change in the trend of buying those styles of furniture.

65) Very Particular In His Recruitment Process

While recruiting staff for his company IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad is extremely cautious in selecting the right person. According to him, a good employee makes good business. He once said, “The person, the individual, is the most important aspect of what we do, everything else can be solved. All other problems or difficulties will be mounted and mastered if you work with the right people.”

Humanitarian Efforts

66) Kamprad’s Movement Against Child Labor

In 1995, the story of Iqbal Masih, a 12-year-old Pakistani kid who was forced into child labor and later murdered because of his refusal to work, moved the world. At that time, Kamprad came to know that this child was working for one of the manufacturers used by IKEA. He immediately decided to stop buying goods from this manufacturer.

67) Kamprad’s Active Role In The Eradication Of Child Labor

Kamprad showed his support against child labor by creating a program for better conditions for children so that the problem of child labor could be alleviated. In this program, he took the help of UNICEF in responding to the problems that lead to child labor such as poverty and illiteracy.

68) Kamprad’s Foundation: One Of The Largest In The World

The name of the Dutch trust that owns IKEA is Stichting INGKA Foundation. Ingvar Kamprad is the chairman and founder of this foundation and his principal concern for establishing this foundation was to promote design and architectural innovations and save IKEA from the threat of takeover.

69) INGKA Foundation: $36 Billion

Due to the hard work of Ingvar Kamprad, INGKA foundation has become one of the top charitable foundations of the world. According to The Economist, a business newspaper, Kamprad’s charity foundation has a worth of approximately $36 billion.

70) New Goal For His Charitable Foundation

In 2009, Kamprad changed the goal of his foundation. Under this foundation, he wished to provide opportunities to young people in Third World countries.

71) Kamprad’s Philanthropic Goals

He has also founded an organization named Kamprad Family Foundation; this foundation primarily focuses on providing support for research and educational programs in poor regions of Sweden.

72) His Charitable Endeavors: No Boundaries

From 2009 to 2011, Ingvar Kamprad donated about $235 million to provide disaster relief to people in various parts of the world including Kenya, Haiti and China.

The Popularity of IKEA

73) People Going Crazy For IKEA Furniture

The popularity of his company IKEA is so widespread that when the IKEA store in the UK was launched in 2005, it was reported that around five people were injured in the rush of going into the store first and had to be hospitalized. A similar incident happened in Saudi Arabia when the store offered a credit voucher of $150. At least three people were said to have died in the rush of getting those vouchers.

74) Ingvar Kamprad’s IKEA In The Game ‘SIMS 2’

Kamprad has taken IKEA to greater levels of success. The popularity of his designs, and the desire of people to get as many furniture pieces from IKEA as they can, is evident from the fact that in 2008, the computer game “Sims 2” added the option of decorating a virtual house with IKEA furniture.

Transfer of IKEA

75) Ingvar Kamprad Transferred Control Of Business Empire To His Sons

Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of the furniture brand IKEA, made a decision to hand over the control of this giant furniture enterprise to his three sons on his 86th birthday. His spokesperson also confirmed this news by stating that it was the right time to hand over responsibilities and roles to Kamprad’s sons, who would be taking care of the enterprise in the future.

76) Business-Related Issues Between The Founder And His Sons

Rumors were circulating in the media about a dispute between Ingvar Kamprad and his sons over the affairs of the business. However, in one of his interviews, the founder dismissed all such allegations and said, “We do not always agree. But that’s normal in a family.”

77) Seeking A Smooth Succession

Ingvar Kamprad fears that after his demise, his sons might fight for control of the company and may end up dividing the company. In order to deal with inheritance issues, Ingvar Kamprad is planning to announce the name of his successor and has implemented several plans to reduce the chances of breaking up of the company after his death.

78) Each Son Got A Role In The Company According To His Interests

Ingvar Kamprad assigned each of his sons a specific role in the IKEA enterprise according to their interests. Jonas’ interest lies in the field of creativity and he has training in designing, so his primary role in the business relates to product development. Mathias, with a keen interest in business management, has the responsibility of implementing the global concept of the enterprise. Peter has always been interested in the field of economics and thus, he helped in the development of Ikano Bank, part of Kamprad’s Ikano Group.

79) Downfall In The Financial Position Of Kamprad

With the passage of time, the financial position of Ingvar Kamprad started to deteriorate as he did not have any financial gain for himself from his foundation. It was reported in the March 2011 issue of Forbes magazine that due to the weakening financial position of Kamprad, his rank in the wealthiest people of the world was 162.

80) Rejecting Claims That Portray Him As One Of The Richest People In The World

As per one of the business magazines of Sweden, Veckan Affärer, Kamprad was said to be one of the richest people in the world. However, this report was rejected by Kamprad due to the misconceptions this magazine held about IKEA. According to this magazine, Kamprad was the only owner of IKEA, but in reality, Kamprad owns a small share of IKEA and most of his earnings transfer to his foundation.

Continuing to Expand IKEA

81) Age Could Not Stop This Entrepreneur From Working

In one of his interviews in Sweden, Ingvar Kamprad denied that he was planning to retire from work. This business magnate has decided to keep working even at the age of 86.

82) Clearing Up The Misconception Regarding IKEA Going Public

During one of his interviews with a Swedish magazine, Kamprad clarified the news that he has no plans of changing the organizational structure of his business and making it a public organization.

83) Setting An Example For His Employees

Kamprad follows an exemplary leadership style and has been quoted to have said, “If there is such thing as good leadership, it is to give a good example.” His mantra is that one should practice what he preaches. In his book he wrote that how can he ask people to travel using economy class when he himself is traveling in first class. He inspires many by setting an example for others to follow.

84) Winning Hearts By Making A Public Apology

Very few people have the courage to own up to their mistakes in the past, and one such person is Ingvar Kamprad. In his autobiography, he accepted the fact that in his youth he took part in many pro-Nazi gatherings; however, he considers it to be his biggest mistake.

85) Kamprad Cleared His Name From All The Controversies

After acknowledging and apologizing for his mistake, Kamprad even apologized to his Jewish employees by writing letters to them. At the time of his store launch in Israel, he managed to clear out all the controversies; hence, the Israeli government accepted his apology and permitted him to continue trade practices in Israel.

86) Expansion In Different Muslim Countries Of The Middle East

Although due to the mistake of joining the pro-Nazi movement, it seemed impossible that Kamprad would ever be able to trade with Muslim countries, but nothing is impossible for this business tycoon. All the Muslim countries of the Middle East accepted his apology and permitted him to open IKEA stores.

87) Supporting Women’s Employment

Kamprad believes in equal opportunities for both men and women. He argues that women should be given key roles in managerial positions; he has been quoted as saying, “We ought to have more women in various management positions, because women are the ones who decide almost everything in the home.”

88) His Age Has Not Stopped This Tycoon From Dreaming Bigger

Despite his age, he is still very active in the company and retirement is not part of his plan. In one of his interviews he stated, “I am not afraid of turning eighty and I have lots of things to do. I don’t have time for dying.”

89) Age Cannot Stop Him From Working And Achieving More For IKEA

Kamprad has been reported to visit his stores situated in different countries all around the globe. Even though he has grown older, his struggle and passion to achieve more from his work have not ended here.

90) After So Many Years Of Trading, Still Following His Rules

Age has not changed the rules and regulations that were first set by Kamprad in the early years of IKEA. This businessman still flies in economy class. He is reported as saying, “I recently flew out to San Francisco, as is always my rule, in tourist class. To me, at 78, this is not a problem. After a 14-hour trip, we drove out to visit the first store. I believe in the power of positive role models, of setting a good example: If Ingvar can do it; everybody else can do it as well. Besides, part of finding the least expensive way is also living the life of the majority of our customers, to walk in their shoes.”

91) The Philosophy Of His Business: To Serve Everyone

Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA with a dream to serve everyone. He is an inspiration to many aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to make it big, yet sell a product to the masses. Ingvar Kamprad stated his business philosophy as, “Our idea is to serve everybody, including people with little money.”

92) Despite So Much Success, Still A Long Way For IKEA To Go

IKEA is the leading furniture manufacturer and the man behind IKEA is one of the richest men in the world but he believes that IKEA needs further development. For Ingvar Kamprad his competition is powers like China and Russia, and he is not just aiming to compete with them but to win over them. He has been quoted as saying, “We have to still develop the IKEA group. We need many billions of Swiss francs to take on China or Russia.”

93) Urging People To Value Time

Kamprad has always advocated that time is the most important resource; he utilizes his time efficiently and urges people to do the same. In an interview he said, “You can do so much in ten minutes. Ten minutes, once gone, are gone for good.”

94) Kamprad Committed To Making IKEA A Hierarchy-Free Organization

Ingvar’s key philosophy at IKEA has been to eradicate unnecessary levels of management and make it a flatter organization. Thus, his leadership style has led to IKEA reaching new heights.

95) Kamprad Successfully Fought Cancer

Recently, Ingvar Kamprad was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but he recovered completely. Kamprad narrates that the happiest moment of his life was when doctors who operated on him told him that they have completely eradicated the cancer.

96) Richest Man In Europe

According to Bloomberg, Kamprad has an estimated fortune of $40 billion, making him the richest man in Europe.

Future Plans of Ingvar Kamprad

97) Always Planning For The Future

Ingvar Kamprad always thinks about the future and instead of lavish spending, he reinvests in business. He explains this by saying, “The purpose of the foundation is to reinvest funds into the business and to establish reserves for a rainy day.”

98) A Sign of IKEA Success

You have realized by now that the popularity of IKEA founded by Ingvar Kamprad is skyrocketing. According to one interesting report, about ten percent of living Europeans were conceived on beds manufactured by IKEA.

99) Catalogue Of The Company More Elaborate Than The Bible

IKEA publishes a catalogue that is 300 pages long and each year it is distributed among 180 million people in many different languages. It is said that more copies of IKEA’s catalogue are printed than the Bible each year.

100) Ingvar Kamprad, The Man Who Learned From His Mistakes

Kamprad has always acknowledged his failures and mistakes. According to him, “Making mistakes is the privilege of the active.” He has always accepted his mistakes and even made public apologies as he believes that only mediocre people try hard to prove that they were not wrong. He further adds that he regrets some of the mistakes that he made in life; however, there are many mistakes that gave him an opportunity to learn an important lesson in life.