Ingvar Kamprad is the founder of IKEA. Kamprad came up with the idea to sell disassembled furniture in the 1950s, long before anyone had thought of doing anything like this. Because of this innovative idea, though, the other furniture retailers in Sweden started a boycott of IKEA that forced Kamprad to take the business to Poland, despite the fact that the country was under communist rule at a time when the world was starkly divided over such matters, with the Cold War reaching new heights and the Cuban Missile Crisis on the near horizon. Nevertheless, Kamprad was undeterred and ended up establishing an incredibly successful company. Gladwell uses Kamprad’s story to demonstrate how successful people often have beneficially “disagreeable” personalities—they don’t care what others might think of them and are willing to take unconventional steps toward realizing their goals.
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Ingvar Kamprad Character Timeline in David and Goliath
The timeline below shows where the character Ingvar Kamprad appears in David and Goliath. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: David Boies
...that they need to be willing to “do things that others might disapprove of.” Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, is a perfect example of somebody who is disagreeable. He is...
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Gladwell points out that Poland was a communist country and that Kamprad brought his company there at a tumultuous time. It was 1961, the Cold War was...
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