He was superstitious in other ways, too - or at least he liked people to think he was. Ivar was credited with spreading the story that using one match to light two cigarettes was fine, but a third was bad luck. Whatever the source, that idea caught on and boosted match sales.

He also mentioned Ivar’s response to a question about what three things accounted most for his success. The answer, which became emblazoned in the public’s memory, was: “One is silence; the second is more silence; while the third is still more silence.”

He took over potash and phosphorus manufacturing and choked off his competitors’ supplies.

Jack Morgan might have the minds of other American bankers, but Ivar had the hearts of American investors, and those investors now had the power. Ivar didn’t need to lend his own money to France. Instead, he could act as an intermediary, raising money from the Americans and lending their money.

Occasionally Ivar would ask a question about IT&T and one of the men from the other side would leave the room for an hour to get an answer. But when someone from IT&T asked a question, Ivar always stayed put and answered from memory.

While the factories of Europe worked overnight to produce war materials, Ivar quietly purchased match factories throughout Sweden.13 He was a pioneer of vertical integration, buying timber tracts and chemical factories to secure the raw materials needed to make matches. Finally, he merged the leading Swedish competitors to form Swedish Match, a

It seems to me that Mr Kreuger’s policy is to carefully select the man for each post and then to give him complete responsibility for the duties therein involved. I was considerably impressed with the complete harmony with which the organizations function and the extreme confidence that each one has in the other. There seems to be throughout the

Although Ivar had staff, he didn’t like being waited on. He still carried his own luggage, answered the telephone, greeted visitors, and opened his copious letters and cables. Ivar preferred to spend most of his time in Stockholm by himself, in silence. He had not lost the extraordinary memory skills he had as a child, and he spent much of his time

Jenny found it difficult to relate to her quiet, poker-faced boy, just as he found it difficult to relate to her. She was embarrassed when he repeated Sunday sermons verbatim or recited the scientific names of plants.