Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Ikea, died January 31st at the age of 91. Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index listed him as one of the ten wealthiest men in the world. Kamprad disputed his place on the list as Ikea, the world’s largest furniture seller, was controlled via a network of holding companies and foundations and not directly by Kamprad himself. His heirs will not be beneficiaries to the Ikea fortune and will not have any control over the firm. The structure put in place decades ago by Kamprad was designed to keep control of the company outside his family in order to better ensure its semi-charitable mission.
See Devon Pendleton, What’s Going to Happen To Ikea Founder’s Billions?, Bloomberg, January 31, 2018.
