Ingvar Kamprad

"Ingvar Kamprad managed for a long time to be a public figure without being particularly scrutinized, despite his tax planning, moving both his personal belongings and his companies out of Sweden, and buying a vineyard in France. Not very folksy. But he cultivated his ordinariness, a shabby man from Småland with alcohol problems. Took a wrong step in Nazi circles in his youth—“well, but he was so young,” was a common reaction. When the critical articles about the fabulously wealthy tax exile Kamprad finally came, they never really stuck in the Swedish public’s consciousness. They did not want to know, or did not care. More were proud of him than angry. He was, and is, a Swedish hero. Former Social Democratic politician Stefan Stern explains the phenomenon like this: — Many may think that a boss is not so special that he or she has earned a high salary. But rich entrepreneurs are in a way something unattainable, therefore they become more like superheroes. Such success is seen as the success of all of Sweden."

"the problem with pragmatism is that it rapidly becomes a habit, and short-term gratification – expressed in profits, cash and the praise which goes with them – becomes a drug that drives out long-term customer-related aspirations. It takes a rare visionary – people such as Henry Ford, Ray Kroc of McDonald’s, Ingvar Kamprad of IKEA, and Southwest Airlines’ Herb Kelleher – to insist on rock-bottom prices; or, as with Steve Jobs, fantastic products and a simple, intuitive customer experience. It takes an exceptional person to take on the risk of this approach – the risk of going bust."

"The creator, LO economist Rudolf Meidner, wanted to exclude smaller companies with fewer than one hundred employees, but the LO congress said no to this in 1976. It wasn't just Ingvar Kamprad and Ikea and the Rausing family with Tetra Pak who fled the country. Thousands of family-owned small and medium-sized businesses ended up on the sales list."

"At the same time, Ingvar Kamprad is a figurehead for his own company. He has hinted at Swedish culture – Swedishness – in the marketing of furniture and other products sold in the large blue and yellow Ikea warehouses along with meatballs and crispbread. This has garnered sympathy from many Swedes, even though he moved the company abroad. The Social Democrats' tax policy has also not always been popular with large sections of the public and is a reasonable reason for many to flee Sweden. And the furniture is so cheap yet modernly designed."

"The older man at the short end of the table clears his throat and adjusts his square-rimmed steel glasses. A striped shirt is glimpsed under a simple black sweater. Nothing suggests that Ingvar Kamprad has built one of the most well-known companies in the Western world, Ikea. When the murmuring among the comparatively casually dressed board members—shirts but no ties—subsides, he continues in a serious tone: "On the agenda today are some important matters regarding the establishment in Russia." Stefan Persson listens attentively. He has been elected to the board of Ingka Holding BV, one of the most important companies in the Ikea sphere, located in Holland. Now he gets to sit at the same table as the world-famous Småland native. Later, he talks about it in an interview: “It was a privilege to be on Ikea’s board. Hopefully, I also contributed something. It is obviously a company I admire a lot.”[95](private://read/01jas9tvg84jycb27616w1f9k8/#note-95)"

"In the fall of 2001, one could guess which direction Stefan Persson chooses. He buys the entire Åhléns department store and later also the land on which it is located, for a total of 1.3 billion kronor. The property was initially about to be sold to Ikea, as real estate agent Per Asplund later tells Fastighetsvärlden: "Everything was ready, but the deal was canceled after Ingvar Kamprad himself said no. He did not want to be associated with having bought a large and expensive property in central Stockholm."[97](private://read/01jas9tvg84jycb27616w1f9k8/#note-97) Thus, it is Stefan Persson who makes the move. Now he is in a new industry. It's not a deal he trumpets, and the acquisition of Åhléns receives little attention despite the property housing Sweden's largest department store. This makes him want more."