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IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad to step down

IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad says his departure from the board is part of a generational shift. The son of Ingvar Kamprad, Mathias, will become chairman of the board.

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Denis Balibouse/Reuters/File
IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad attends an event at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology near Lausanne last month. Mr. Kamprad said Wednesday, June 5, 2013, that he will step down from his position on the IKEA board and that his son had accepted to become board chairman.
  • By Associated Press

| STOCKHOLM

The founder of Swedish furniture giant IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, will leave the board of the firm that controls the IKEA brand as part of a gradual shift of responsibilities to his son, he said Wednesday.

The 87-year-old said the decision to leave the board of Inter IKEA Group is a step "in the generation shift that has been ongoing for some years." His son Mathias Kamprad will replace 70-year-old Per Ludvigsson as chairman of the board.

Inter IKEA Group controls the brand, while IKEA Group is the company that owns the majority of IKEA stores.

Kamprad remains senior advisor in the board of the foundation that owns the IKEA Group. He left the management of that company in 1986.

The multi-billionaire, who founded IKEA when he was only 17, said he won't stop working completely but will continue to share his ideas and spend time in IKEA's stores and factories.

"I am happy and proud that Mathias has accepted to become Chairman of the board of Inter IKEA Group after that Per Ludvigsson had decided to retire. Mathias is well prepared for his new assignment," he said in a statement.

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