Mathias kamprad biography graphic organizer

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad handed his youngest son the chairmanship of the company that controls the flat-pack furniture chain’s brand and concept as the retailer transitions power to the family’s next generation.

Mathias Kamprad replaces Chairman Per Ludvigsson as part of a generational shift that has been in preparation for years, Inter Ikea Group said in a statement today.

Ingvar Kamprad, 87, who started selling matches to his neighbors at the age of five and founded Ikea in 1943, retired as chief executive officer of the biggest home-furnishings retailer in 1986.

He’s the world’s fifth-richest man, with an estimated worth of $52.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s index.

“I see this as a good time for me to leave the board of Inter Ikea Group,” Kamprad said in the statement, adding that he won’t stop working.

The Ikea founder will still have a say in how the b