'The largest financial empire of the early 20th century was built on the production of matches.'
In his day, Ivar Kreuger may well have been the richest man in the world. The Swedish businessman and engineer eventually founded or acquired hundreds of companies, but the core of his business was his family's match factories. Kreuger's match business merged with several others, and when the Swedes invented safety matches, Kreuger's influence expanded until his companies (which included Diamond Match, Ohio Match and the International Match Corporation) were responsible for the bulk of the world's match production. Kreuger's empire was financially unsound, however, having been built on speculation and dummy corporations, and ended in utter financial collapse and Kreuger's suicide (although some speculation suggests that he may have been murdered).
