We all know how simple IKEA’s instructions for assembling its flat-pack furniture are. At the other end of the scale of simplicity, in fact, at a level of preposterously complexity, is IKEA’s corporate structure. What appears at the other end is a structure that ingeniously exploits the quirks of different jurisdictions to create a charity, dedicated to a somewhat corny cause, that is not only the world’s richest foundation, but is at the moment also one of its least generous. The set-up of IKEA’s structure minimizes tax and disclosure, adequately rewards the founding Kamprad family and makes IKEA immune to takeovers. And if that seems too good to be true, it is: these measurements are almost impossible to undo.
IKEA-founder Ingvar Kamprad claims that his company is open about its structure, and has published what he says is the full extent of the structure of ownership. However, a report by the Greens/EFA party in the European Parliament shows that his picture of the company’s structure does not even come close to the actual web of artificial ambiguity.
