The Stichting INGKA Foundation is a Dutch foundation founded in 1982 by Ingvar Kamprad, the Swedish billionaire, who is founder and chairman of IKEA. INGKA is one of the largest charitable foundations in the world. The name "INGKA" comes from a contraction of his name; "Stichting" is the Dutch language word for foundation. The stated purpose is To promote and support innovation in the field of architectural and interior design.
The foundation owns the private Dutch company INGKA Holding based in Leiden, which is the holding company controlling 207 of the 235 outlets of IKEA.[1]
INGKA does not own the IKEA franchise and trademark; these are owned by Inter IKEA Systems B.V. in Delft, also in the Netherlands, which receives 3% of all IKEA revenues in royalties. Inter IKEA Systems is owned by Inter IKEA Holding, registered in Luxembourg. This company is controlled, in turn, by Interogo Foundation, a Liechtenstein foundation with a wealth of another $15bn controlled by the Kamprad family. [2] In explanation, Ingvar Kamprad stated to the authors of a Swedish documentary that tax efficiency was "a natural part of the company’s low-cost culture".[2]
The Dutch Tax Service has declared both the Stichting INGKA Foundation and the associated Stichting IKEA Foundation "Institution for General Benefit" (algemeen nut beogende instelling, ANBI).
Stichting INKGA's group equity is €19.7 billion. Virtually all of the group's profit is reinvested; the foundation expects to spend 0.2% of its wealth (€45 million) on charitable giving in 2010.
In May 2006, the magazine The Economist estimated that the foundation was worth US$36 billion, making it the world's wealthiest at the time. In the same article, The Economist alleged that the Kamprad family uses the foundation structure as a corporate tax-avoidance and anti-takeover protection scheme for IKEA.[1] The Kamprad family controls and benefits from IKEA through their ownership and control of Interogo Foundation Liechtenstein which owns Inter Ikea Holdings Luxembourg which in turn holds the Ikea trademark and intellectual property and receives royalties from all Ikea stores for their use. [3]