Ikea chief is the world's richest man

He drives an 11-year-old car, flies economy class and is proud to admit he was once a carpenter's son struggling to earn a crust.

But Ingvar Kamprad's modesty belies his vast fortune. The 77-year-old founder of the Ikea furniture chain is now believed to have overtaken Microsoft boss Bill Gates as the world's richest man.

Reports claim Mr Kamprad has amassed a personal fortune of $58 billion (£32 billion) - putting him way ahead of Mr Gates who is said to be

worth £26.9 billion. Financial experts in Sweden, the home town of the publicity-shy entrepreneur who founded Ikea more than 60 years ago, say previous assessments of Mr Kamprad's wealth have been grossly under-estimated.

Their new assessment alleges that the furniture magnate is still the ultimate owner of Ikea, even though it is now split into multiple subsidiaries, headed by a charitable foundation, and he no longer has a role in the daily running of it.

Results of the evaluation will be published in next week's edition of Swedish business magazine, Veckans Affaerer. Bo Petterssen, the financial analyst and journalist who researched Mr Kamprad's wealth, said: "Because it is a private company, it has been notoriously difficult to find out the true value of Ikea and also Mr Kamprad's-wealth. But we have looked at private figures from Dutch archives which allow us to assess the profits and what Ikea would be worth it if was floated on the stock market.

"Because we argue that Mr Kamprad is still in control of virtually 100 per cent of the group, we can estimate his personal fortune. It is a large one."

Ikea, however, is insisting the figures are not true, claiming the decision by Mr Kamprad in 1982 to put Ikea under the control of the Stichting INGKA Foundation, a charitable trust that supports various architecture and design institutions, meant his personal wealth was not linked to Ikea.

Spokeswoman Marianne Barner said: "This is completely wrong. It's a mistake that is made all the time. Estimating the value of the company, including all the stores, and saying it's all Ingvar's, that is totally wrong. Ingvar Kamprad does not own Ikea."

But the company would not offer an alternative figure for Mr Kamprad's personal wealth or a breakdown of the estimation of the profits from its annual sales, which were £7.1 billion last year.

In February, Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the world's billionaires put Bill Gates at number one. It was the 10th consecutive year the Microsoft co-founder was top of the list.

American investment guru Warren Buffett came second on the list with £20.2 billion and Mr Kamprad was number 13. But Veckans Affaerer said when the dollar's slide against the kronor was calculated, Mr Kamprad overtook the two Americans.