Karl Hans Albrecht (; 20 February 1920 – 16 July 2014) was a German

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who founded the discount supermarket chain

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

with his brother

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. He was for many years the richest person in Germany. In February 2014, he was ranked the 21st-richest person in the world by

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Biography

Karl and Theo Albrecht were born and raised in a

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family in modest circumstances in Essen, Germany. Their father, Karl Sr, was employed as a miner and later as a baker's assistant. Their mother Anna, née Siepmann, had a small grocery store in the workers' quarter of , a suburb of Essen. Theo completed an

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in his mother's store, while Karl worked in a

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

shop. Karl served in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

during

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and was wounded on the Eastern Front. After the war, the brothers jointly took over their mother's business and founded Albrecht KG. In 1960, the brothers had a disagreement over whether to stock cigarettes. While Theo wanted to sell them, Karl believed they would attract shoplifters. As a result, they divided their stores into two parts, with Theo retaining all stores north of the Ruhr, while Karl retained all stores south of the Ruhr. The first Aldi (short for Albrecht Discount) was opened in 1962, and the two groups became known as Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd, respectively. Aldi world map

In 1994, Karl Albrecht removed himself from the daily operations of Aldi Süd and took the position of chairman of the board until 2002. At the beginning of 2002, he also relinquished this position, thereby completely ceding control of the firm. As of 2010s, the business is no longer run by any of Karl Albrecht's family members.

Personal life

Karl Albrecht was a very reclusive man, who had not taken part in public life for several years prior to his death. As a result, little is known about him. ''

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'' magazine reported that he had two children, neither of whom was employed by Aldi. He reportedly lived in Essen, as did his brother Theo until the latter's death. Golf was one of his hobbies, and Albrecht played the sport on his own

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

, the Öschberghof, which he built in 1976. He also raised

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Fortune

In 2014, Albrecht was listed as one of the richest people in the world with an estimated net worth of . ''Forbes'' magazine listed him as the third richest man in the world in 2004. In 2012, with an estimated net worth in 2011 of , the magazine ranked him tenth on its

list of billionaires ''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...

– making him the oldest billionaire in the Top 20 list. Upon his death, Albrecht was named the richest person in Germany, and the fourth-richest in Europe.

References

External links

''Forbes'' topic page on Karl Albrecht

in

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Marcus Williamson Marcus Williamson is a British writer, journalist and campaigner. As an obituarist for ''The Independent'' he has written obituaries of more than 300 subjects, including artists, poets, actors and inventors. Campaigns Phorm In 2009 the AIM-l ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albrecht, Karl 1920 births 2014 deaths German businesspeople in retailing German billionaires German company founders 20th-century German businesspeople Businesspeople from Essen People from the Rhine Province German Roman Catholics Aldi people Wehrmacht