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Ikea founder gives giant donation to hometown

TT/The Local/og
TT/The Local/og - [email protected]
Ikea founder gives giant donation to hometown

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad donated a gift to his hometown on Wednesday to the tune of 53 million kronor ($7.7 million). The cash is to be used for developing the area.

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Kamprad made the donation on Wednesday to a foundation in Agunnaryd, his hometown in southern Sweden. 
 
The money is planned to be used for rural development, and to encourage long-term living and working arrangements in the area.
 
Bengt Nilsson, chairman of the local board, was ecstatic with the news.
 
"This gives us a whole new range of possibilities to develop Agunnaryd," he told the Smålandsposten newspaper, adding that the sum was a huge amount for such a small town.
 
Indeed, the town only boasts a population of several hundred. 
 
"We're very proud of Ingvar Kamprad around here and we're of course very thankful that he thinks of his hometown like this," he continued.

The 87-year-old Swede hasn't lived in the area for decades, and only moved back to Sweden this year after spending forty years abroad. 
 
Kamprad was long ranked among the richest people in the world, with Forbes reporting that he was the 11th richest in 2010. This year, he ranked 367th with an estimated fortune of $4.1 billion. Kamprad announced in June last year that he was stepping down as chairman and handing over the reins to his son Matthias.
 
A little known fact about Ikea and Kamprad's hometown is that the word Ikea is an acronym for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd, the latter two words referring to the farm on which Kamprad was raised and the name of his hometown in southern Sweden. 

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