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Ikea founder leaves fortune to no one, structures it to ensure it lasts forever

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11–20 of 373 posts

Re: Ikea founder leaves fortune to no one, structures it to ensure it lasts forever

#11
post #9

When I was young and getting my driving license in Madrid I had to take a bus to the place were exams were done, in the south of Madrid(Mostoles). A friend of mine worked on IKEA and he told me that it was a lot of expectation as the founder had gone to Spain and it was taking the same bus that I took in order to visit the stores in Spain. It was surprising to me that someone owning billions will take the bus, while…

There is a difference between behaving like a poor for ethnological interest vs being obliged.

Re: Ikea founder leaves fortune to no one, structures it to ensure it lasts forever

#12
No medical or research institute, or Foundation, in there? It’s always nice when someone donates to the sciences or arts in perpetuity.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perimeter_Institute_for_Theo...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes_Medical_Instit...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Foundation

Re: Ikea founder leaves fortune to no one, structures it to ensure it lasts forever

#13
post #9

When I was young and getting my driving license in Madrid I had to take a bus to the place were exams were done, in the south of Madrid(Mostoles). A friend of mine worked on IKEA and he told me that it was a lot of expectation as the founder had gone to Spain and it was taking the same bus that I took in order to visit the stores in Spain. It was surprising to me that someone owning billions will take the bus, while…

He also tried to have his hair cut when visiting a cheap country. Maybe he did it in Spain...

Re: Ikea founder leaves fortune to no one, structures it to ensure it lasts forever

#14

"The structure, which Kamprad established in the 1980s, assures that the Almhult, Sweden-based company stays outside the family’s direct control." "His wealth will now be dissipated " "Kamprad was not interested in money" Does anyone care about money less than Billionaires?

When you finally get the thing you've always wanted, you'll find you don't want it anymore.

Re: Ikea founder leaves fortune to no one, structures it to ensure it lasts forever

#15
post #4

"The structure, which Kamprad established in the 1980s, assures that the Almhult, Sweden-based company stays outside the family’s direct control." "His wealth will now be dissipated " "Kamprad was not interested in money" Does anyone care about money less than Billionaires?

When you have $2.50 to your name, but you have to feed your family for the next week, you care a lot about money because you might die. I suspect billionaires see money more like kids collecting stickers. It's just a game, constantly trying to get more, for no obvious reason.

Depends on the mission, the end goal (if any), as with so many other things.

If you're Gates, you likely feel an immense obligation to not destroy $100 billion (as with Buffett), as it's meant to be put to use as a public good. That has also become his professional life. And ideally you conservatively grow it further, to be able to bring that many more resources to bear on extremely expensive problems.

Re: Ikea founder leaves fortune to no one, structures it to ensure it lasts forever

#16
My understanding is that the Ikea corporate structure is much, much more complicated than this article even hints at, and in fact it is owned by so many different parties with different interests that go far beyond what is suggested here. Additionally, I think the Dutch are now the main owners of the main portions of the company that most associate with the name Ikea, as of a few years ago.

Re: Ikea founder leaves fortune to no one, structures it to ensure it lasts forever

#17
post #12

No medical or research institute, or Foundation, in there? It’s always nice when someone donates to the sciences or arts in perpetuity. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perimeter_Institute_for_Theo... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes_Medical_Instit... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Foundation

Officially there is. Among the web of foundations is a charity dedicated to the art of furniture design. Less clear what it does in practice, since furniture design also happens to be IKEA's business, and the charity owns portions of IKEA.

Re: Ikea founder leaves fortune to no one, structures it to ensure it lasts forever

#18
post #7
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you have $2.50 to your name, but you have to feed your family for the next week, you care a lot about money because you might die. I suspect billionaires see money more like kids collecting stickers. It's just a game, constantly trying to get more, for no obvious reason.

You might die, or your ego doesn't want to be injured by asking for help? There's a distinction.

Oh, why didn't all of the poor people in the whole world think of that. They could've just asked for help instead of starving to death! /s
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