“Few tasks are more exasperating than trying to assemble flat-pack furniture from IKEA,” The Economist wrote in 2006, “But even that is simple compared with piecing together the accounts of the world’s largest home-furnishing retailer.” IKEA is well-known for its global functional minimalism, Swedish meatballs, and affordability. What’s less commonly known however, is that not only is IKEA not publicly traded, but that it's actually technically a nonprofit entity. How is that possible, you might ask? It’s complicated. But in order to understand how IKEA makes money, it’s important look at how it’s organized.