Free Republic

Swedish furniture maker Ikea celebrated the opening of its first factory in the United States on Wednesday. Swedwood, a subsidiary of home furnishings giant, has 40 plants worldwide. The $281 million plant in Danville, Virginia will employ 300 people by the end of 2009, said Swedwood North America president Bengt Danielsson. Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine was at Wednesday's ceremony to hail the economic boost to the ailing region along the North Carolina border, formerly a stronghold for the tobacco industry. Swedwood received $12 million in incentives from in state and local authorities, as well as the Virginia Tobacco Commission...

GENEVA (Reuters) - IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, ranked 4th richest man in the world, drives a 15-year-old car and always flies economy class, in part to inspire his 90,000 employees worldwide to see the virtue of frugality. The billionaire Swede, who turns 80 on March 30, explained his legendary habits during a rare television interview in Switzerland, his adoptive home for nearly 30 years. His fortune was recently estimated at $28 billion by Forbes magazine -- trailing only Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, U.S. investor Warren Buffett and Mexican industrialist Carlos Slim. "People say I am cheap and I don't mind...

<p>STOCKHOLM, (Reuters) - Ingvar Kamprad, the Swede who founded furniture retail chain IKEA, has overtaken Microsoft's Bill Gates as the world's richest man, Swedish TV news reported on Sunday.</p> <p>Citing next week's edition of the Swedish business weekly Veckans Affarer, public service SVT2 television said Kamprad, 77, has a personal fortune of 400 billion crowns ($53 billion).</p>