I'm a bit tight with money, but so what? I look at the money I'm about to spend on myself and ask myself if IKEA's customers can afford it... I could regularly travel first class, but having money in abundance doesn't seem like a good reason to waste it.. If there is such a thing as good leadership, it is to give a good example. I have to do so for all the IKEA employees.

To design a desk which may cost $1,000 is easy for a furniture designer but to design a functional and good desk which shall cost only $50 can only be done by the very best

Ikea people do not drive flashy cars or stay at luxury hotels.

Everything we earn we need as a reserve.

I could have an office all to myself but since my collaborators don’t have one, then I too am contented to have a desk in a shared room.

What is good for our customers is also in the long run good for us.

We have to still develop the IKEA group. We need many billions of Swiss francs to take on China or Russia.