Ikea founder dies in Sweden at 91

[AlTech]

This news is slightly old but I thought it should be shared. Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has been found dead in Sweden at the age of 91.

 

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Mr Kamprad - who pioneered flat-pack furniture - died at his home in Småland, Ikea confirmed in a statement.

The company said that Mr Kamprad was "one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century".

The billionaire, who was born in 1926 in Småland, founded Ikea at the age of 17.

He used some money his father had given him as a gift for performing well at school despite his dyslexia.

In the later years of his life, Mr Kamprad faced questions over his past links to fascist groups - something he admitted, but said was a "mistake".

 

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In a statement on Sunday, Ikea said that Mr Kamprad had "peacefully passed away at his home".

"He worked until the very end of his life, staying true to his own motto that most things remain to be done," it added. Mr Kamprad eventually stepped down from the company's board in 2013, at the age of 87.

"Ingvar Kamprad was a great entrepreneur of the typical southern Swedish kind - hardworking and stubborn, with a lot of warmth and a playful twinkle in his eye," the company said.

His company's designs became popular in part because of their simplicity and value.

Mr Kamprad is reported to have come up with the idea of flat-pack furniture after watching an employee remove the legs from a table in order to fit it into a customer's car.

 

Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42851668