Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of the internationally-famous Swedish budget furniture store IKEA, is to move back to his home country of Sweden after spending more than 30 years living in Switzerland. Family spokesman Per Heggenes says that the 87-year-old will relocate to a farmhouse in southern Sweden, close to his native Almhult, before the end of the year.
Kamprad, who is the fifth richest person in the world, will be taxed accordingly after his move home. Heggenes says: “Ingvar will pay tax on his income, just like everyone else in Sweden, but the move will have no other tax consequences.” It was the 1940s when Kamprad set up the budget shop, with its affordable flatpack wares going viral all over the world.
Heggenes says that Kamprad begin thinking about making a move back to Sweden in 2011 following the death of his wife, wanting to be able to spend more of his time with other members of his family and friends. He no longer has any kind of operational role within IKEA, with the chairman role of its mother company, Inter Ikea Group, recently having been taken over by his youngest son, Mathias Kamprad.
Swedish newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet was the first to break the news of Kamprad’s decision to move home. Although none of his three sons currently live in Sweden, they do spend their Christmas and summer vacations there.
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