How One of the World’s Wealthiest Individuals Avoided Taxes for Years

Many people are always complaining that the wealthy don’t pay their fair share in taxes. While that is an argument that will never end, it seems that one of the world’s richest men might be guilty. That’s because he was able to avoid paying taxes for more than 40 years. How is that possible? The wealthy taxpayer in question is the founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, who is reportedly one of the top ten richest people in the world. 

Although IKEA is clearly influenced by all things Swedish, the man who built the IKEA empire left his native country more than 40 years ago in the name of tax savings. IKEA is the number one furniture store in the world and in the fiscal year 2014-2015 the company reported 31.9 billion euros. However, taxes have always been a huge part of IKEA’s success. That’s exactly why Mr. Kamprad left the country he loves for Switzerland. He wanted a tax break. 

While he did pay taxes in Switzerland during those 40 years, he legally avoided what would have been a much larger bill if he had stayed in Sweden, for both his company and his personal income. Now, after all these years he has returned to his native Sweden and in 2014 he paid what amounted to about $2 million in taxes to Sweden, while his net worth is reportedly worth an estimated $43.2 billion.

Posted in
Lee Brower

Empowering Leaders of Family Businesses

Transcript: Alan Olsen Welcome to American Dreams. My guest today is Lee Brower. Lee, welcome to today’s show.   Lee Brower Alan, I’m delighted to be here. Thank you for having me.   Alan Olsen Oh, I’m excited for this session night ugly. I’ve sat in classes with you. Management Consulting techniques, strategic planning. And…

Redefining Social Responsibility In The Financial Industry: Our Conversation With David Reiling

See David’s Recent Interview with Alan Olsen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztdtPfH9RAk&t=2s David Reiling is an accomplished social entrepreneur and innovator in the field of community development finance and financial inclusion. He has been the Chief Executive Officer of Sunrise Banks since 1995, and since then, he has successfully transformed Sunrise Banks into a leading player in the industry,…

David Reiling

Banking As A Social Entrepreneur

Transcript: Alan Olsen Welcome to American Dreams. My guest this week is David Reiling. David, welcome to today’s show.   David Reiling Thanks, Alan. Great to be here.   Alan Olsen So David, you have a very unique background. You know, tell us a little bit about the, the picture your your background in, you…

The Economic Influence of the NBA All-Star Weekend

NBA All-Star Weekend Economic Influence

Written by Ryan Hickman   If you have walked around downtown Salt Lake City recently, you’d come across ginormous signs advertising the NBA. But not just advertisements for the local Utah Jazz, but for the annual pinnacle of NBA events: the 2023 All-Star Game. This annual event envelopes whichever city hosts the events, which include…