"The founder of IKEA and Ikano, and one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century, Ingvar Kamprad, has peacefully passed away, at his home in Smaland, Sweden, on the 27th of January," the company said in a press release.
According to the company, Kamprad worked until the very end of his life, staying true to his own motto that most things remain to be done.
"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 release said.
Ingvar Kamprad, who was born in southern Sweden on March 30, 1926, started his entrepreneur's activity at the age of five by selling matches, pencils, pens, Christmas tree decorations and other small stuff to neighbors.
He founded IKEA back in 1943 at the age of 17, using his own initials, the first letter of the family's farm Elmtaryd and the local parish Agunnaryd to create the company's name.
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However, it wasn't until 1950, when Kamprad introduced furniture into his catalog. After receiving positive responses Kamprad decided to focus on the production and the distribution of affordable furniture that the customers could assemble themselves.
Kamprad called wasting resources "a deadly sin," and lived a modest way of life. In a documentary film made by TV4 broadcaster in 2016, Kamprad said that he went to street bazaars to buy clothes. The entrepreneur used to drive a 20-year-old Volvo and liked his haircut to be done during his trips to the developing countries as he considered European hairdressing saloons too expensive.
