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How the IKEA Family Built a Flat-Pack Empire With a Swiss Foundation
Description
IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer, but its ownership structure is anything but standard. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the Kamprad family used a complex web of foundations, trusts, and holding companies to keep IKEA private, avoid taxes, and protect the business from succession battles. They trace the story from Ingvar Kamprad's founding in 1943 to the creation of the Stichting INGKA Foundation in the Netherlands and the Interogo Foundation in Liechtenstein, explaining why the family gave up formal ownership. Along the way, they discuss how this structure has allowed IKEA to reinvest profits, maintain long-term strategy, and avoid the fate of other family empires that collapsed under inheritance disputes. A look at how one family built a global brand while ensuring it could outlast them.