Few tasks are more exasperating than trying to assemble flat-pack furniture from ikea. But even that is simple compared with piecing together the account's of the world's largest home-furnishing retailer. Much has been written about ikea's remarkably effective retail formula. The Economist has investigated the group's no less astonishing finances. What emerges is an outfit that ingeniously exploits the quirks of different jurisdictions to create a charity, dedicated to a somewhat banal cause, that is not only the world's richest foundation, but is at the moment also one of its least generous. The overall set-up of ikea minimises tax and disclosure, handsomely rewards the founding Kamprad family and makes ikea immune to a takeover.
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