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Swedish business magnate Ingvar Kamprad had been at the helm of IKEA, one of the world's largest furniture stores and most beloved brands, for more than 70 years when his death was announced Sunday.
With a net worth of $48.1 billion at its height, he was one of the world's richest self-made billionaires.
If you ask Malcolm Gladwell, whose books have been read by millions of people, Kamprad succeeded thanks to an often-unpopular personality trait: disagreeableness, and not caring if people thought he was crazy.
From humble beginnings selling holiday tchotchkes to his neighbors as a child, here's how Kamprad started a privately held $11.8 billion furniture revolution and became a billionaire.
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Kamprad was born in the south of Sweden in 1926 and by the age of 5 began selling matches for profit. At 10, he rode his bike around the neighborhood to sell Christmas decorations, fish, and pencils.
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Source: Business Insider, Sweden.se
In his teens, Kamprad became involved in a Nazi youth movement by the influence of his German grandmother, who was "a great admirer of Hitler." He later described that time as "the greatest mistake of my life" and even penned a letter to his employees asking their forgiveness.
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When Kamprad was 17, his dad gave him a cash reward for making good grades in school despite his dyslexia. He used the money to found IKEA in 1943. Kamprad didn't introduce furniture until five years in; he'd started by selling small household items, like picture frames.
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Source: Business Insider
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