Billionaire co-founded discount store chain
NEW YORK — Karl Albrecht, the German businessman who became one the world’s wealthiest people after co-founding the Aldi discount supermarket chain in the 1960s, has died. He was 94.
He died on July 16, Sarah Twyman, an Aldi spokeswoman at Weber Shandwick, said in an emailed statement. Albrecht died in Essen, Germany, and was buried in a private ceremony Wednesday, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported earlier.
Albrecht was the second-richest person in Germany and the 35th-wealthiest in the world, with an estimated fortune of $20.9 billion US, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. With his brother, Theo, he built a business that ranked as the world’s 11th-biggest retailer in 2013, according to London-based research company Planet Retail.
“He had a strong belief that everyone should be able to consume highquality food and beverages at the lowest possible prices,” Twyman said in the statement. “He devoted his life to making this belief a reality.”
The Albrecht brothers split the Essen-based chain into separate companies — Aldi Sued and Aldi Nord — in 1962, following a feud over whether to sell cigarettes in the stores. Karl, who didn’t give interviews, withdrew entirely from public life early in his career.
“Karl Albrecht preferred to avoid public attention and rejected any honours awarded to him, always pointing toward the successes achieved by his employees,” Twyman said.
He took up management of Aldi Sued, which has outlets in southern Germany as well as the U.S., the U.K., Australia and eastern Europe. Aldi Sued operates more than 4,860 stores, according to its website. Its 2013 revenue was about $51 billion US, Planet Retail data show.
The brothers pioneered the lowcost business strategy that focused on a limited assortment of goods, pared-down supply expenses, and offered a minimal level of advertising. The result was a shopping experience that lacked the refinement of brightly lit supermarket chains. In return, consumers often paid less than they would have elsewhere.
“The key to success was to stick to that strategy without compromising,” Dieter Brandes, a member of the Aldi Nord supervisory board from 1975 to 1985, said in an interview in 2012.
“It’s a very simple shopping experience. The Aldi system will, for sure, work for another 10 years successfully.”
Karl stepped down as Aldi Sued chief executive in 1994 and as chairman in 2002.
Theo Albrecht, who also owned Trader Joe’s stores in the U.S., died in July, 2010, at age 88.
Karl Albrecht established the Elisen Foundation to support cultural causes, and his Oertel trust, which controlled a portion of Aldi Sued, also donates to medical research.
With his wife, Maria, he had a daughter, Beate, and a son, Karl Jr., all of whom survive him.