What beliefs do you have that weren't consciously chosen?

What beliefs do you have that weren’t consciously chosen?

Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of Ikea and Creator of a Global Empire(ˈemˌpī(ə)r), Dies at 91

By Robert D. McFadden

Ingvar Kamprad, a Swedish(ˈswēdiSH) entrepreneur(-ˈnər,ˌäntrəprəˈno͝or) who hid his fascist(ˈfaSHist) past and became one of the world’s richest men by turning simply-designed(dəˈzīn), low-cost furniture(ˈfərniCHər) into the global Ikea empire, died on Saturday(-dē,ˈsatərˌdā) at his home in Smaland, Sweden. He was 91.

His death was confirmed by the company in a statement on Sunday.

He grew up on a farm in the lake-dotted province(ˈprävins) of Smaland, in southern Sweden, a dyslexic boy who milked cows(kou) and found it hard to concentrate(ˈkänsənˌtrāt) in school. His family was poor, and he earned money selling matches and pencils(ˈpensəl) in villages(ˈvilij). At 17, he registered(ˈrejəstər) his mail-order business in household goods, calling it Ikea, formed of his initials(iˈniSHəl) and those of his farm, Elmtaryd, and village, Agunnaryd.

Over the next seven decades(ˈdekād), Mr. Kamprad built Ikea into the world’s largest furniture retailer(ˈrēˌtāl) — an archipelago(ˌärkəˈpeləˌgō) of more than 350 stores in 29 countries across Europe, North America, the Caribbean(kəˈribēən,ˌkarəˈbēən), the Middle East(ēst) and Asia, with sales of 38.3 billion euros ($47.6(sent) billion), more than 930 million store visits and 210 million recipients(riˈsipēənt) of catalogs(-ˌäg,ˈkatlˌôg) in 32 languages.

It made him wealthy(ˈwelTHē) beyond imagining(iˈmajən). Bloomberg Billionaires(ˈbilyəˌne(ə)r) Index listed him as the world’s eighth-richest person, worth $58.7 billion. But his driving ambition(amˈbiSHən) led to alcoholism(-hä-,ˈalkəhôˌlizəm), years of fascination(ˌfasəˈnāSHən) with fascism(ˈfaSHˌizəm) and, trying to lead his employees by example, into a life of almost monastic(məˈnastik) frugalities(fro͞oˈgalətē).

All his life, Mr. Kamprad practiced thrift(THrift) and diligence(ˈdiləjəns), and he portrayed(pôrˈtrā) those traits(trāt) as the basis(ˈbāsis) for Ikea’s success. He lived in Switzerland(ˈswitsərlənd) to avoid Sweden’s high taxes, drove(drōv) an old Volvo, flew only economy class, stayed in budget(ˈbəjit) hotels, ate cheap meals, shopped for bargains(ˈbärgən) and insisted that his home was modest(ˈmädəst), that he had no real fortune(ˈfôrCHən) and that Ikea was held by a charitable(ˈCHaritəbəl) trust.

…
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/obituaries/ingvar-kamprad-dies.html