Business

Ingvar Kamprad

Started IKEA at 17 with a cash gift from his father; built it into the world's largest furniture retailer.

Born: 1926 · Pjätteryd, Småland, Sweden
Roots: Swedish; German grandmother
Family: Middle class; Farming family on the Elmtaryd farm in rural Småland.
Education: Commerce school in Gothenburg
Started with: Gift from father; A small cash reward for school grades funded IKEA's registration in 1943.
Affiliations & societies: New Swedish MovementDocumented; Wartime-era involvement with Per Engdahl's pro-fascist movement, revealed by letters in 1994; Kamprad apologized, calling it "the greatest mistake of my life."; Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1931 · age 5
Sells matches to neighbors
Buys in bulk from Stockholm and resells; later fish, seeds, and pencils.
1943 · age 17
Founds IKEA
Registers the company with money his father gave him as a reward for grades.
1953 · age 27
First furniture showroom
In Älmhult, after years of mail-order sales.
1956 · age 30
Flat-pack
Adopts self-assembly packaging after an employee removes a table's legs to fit it in a car.
1958 · age 32
First IKEA store opens
1973 · age 47
Leaves Sweden
Moves abroad over taxes; ownership later shifts to a foundation structure.
2018 · age 91
Dies
IKEA operates over 400 stores worldwide.

Sources

Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.