Anton Kut Schlecker (born 28 October 1944, in

Ehingen Ehingen (Donau) (; Swabian: ''Eegne'') is a town in the Alb-Donau district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, situated on the left bank of the Danube, approx. southwest of Ulm and southeast of Stuttgart. The city, like the entire district of ...

) is a German businessman, founder and owner of the

Schlecker Schlecker was a German retail company with headquarters in Ehingen which once had a workforce of some 52,000. There were stores across Europe including Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, France, Spain and Italy ...

drug store A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacis ...

chain in Germany. He is married to Christa Schlecker and has two children, Lars Schlecker and Meike Schlecker, both active in the management of the Schlecker company. At 21 he acquired the degree "

Meister ''Meister'' means 'master' in German (as in master craftsman, or as an honorific title such as Meister Eckhart). The word is akin to master and maestro. In sports, ''Meister'' is used for the current national, European or world champion (e.g. ...

" butcher and took over the parental butcher's shop. In 1975 he built his first drug store in

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck ( Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It is 10 km (6 miles) near the Teck castle, approximately ...

. Two years later there were already more than 100 stores. , there were more than 13,000 stores across Europe, employing about 50,000 people and generating revenue of about 6.55 billion euros. In July 2012 Anton Schlecker and his family declared bankruptcy and all Schlecker stores were been closed and were sold off to the appointed receivers.

Schlecker kidnapping

In 1987 his two children – Meike and Lars – were

kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...

. After he paid 9.6 million

mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

s in

ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

they were released. In summer 1998, Wilhelm Hudelmaier and Herbert Jacoby were arrested in Ehingen and convicted of kidnapping. In 1999 they were convicted by the Landgericht

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

of kidnapping and extortion. They both were sentenced to a prison term of 13.5 years.

Court case

In 1998 Schlecker and his wife were given a suspended sentence of ten months each and fined one million euros by the Regional Court in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

for deceiving Schlecker employees into believing they were paid according to going pay rates. Actual salaries were lower, which was deemed fraud by the court.

References

External links

*
"Familie Schlecker: Knüppeln, knausern, kontrollieren"

Manager magazin ''Manager Magazin'' (stylized as ''manager magazin'') is a German monthly business magazine focusing on business, finance and management based in Hamburg, Germany. History and profile ''Manager Magazin'' was first published on 1 November 1971. ...

, 4 December 2003 (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlecker, Anton 1944 births Living people People from Ehingen People from the Free People's State of Württemberg German billionaires German company founders 20th-century German businesspeople 21st-century German businesspeople