ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG via Getty Images
- After World War II, brothers Theo and Karl Albrecht found their mother’s corner grocery store in Germany still standing — so they ran with it, transforming Aldi into an international supermarket chain.
- Throughout the decades, Aldi became one of the most profitable retail chains, with over 5,000 stores across Europe and the US. In 1979, Theo bought Trader Joe’s, the low-cost grocery store.
- The Albrecht family is historically secretive, and there is a lot left unknown about the family’s personal lives. What is known, however, is their net worth: $38.8 billion.
Theodor and Karl Albrecht took their mother’s thrifty corner store, still standing in Essen, Germany after World War II, and turned it into a low-cost supermarket chain that today spans over a dozen countries across Europe and the US.
Aldi, short for Albrecht discount, has become such a stakeholder in Europe that other chains like it, including Walmart, have never been able to get a foothold. In 2017, CNBC estimated Aldi made over $13 billion in the US alone.
Little is known about the Albrechts. They don’t speak to the press, or attend openings of their stores. According to a German newspaper, the family does not own vacation homes, private jets, or yachts, but instead have chosen to live in seclusion, keeping just a couple thousand euros in their bank account.
What is known, however, is their net worth: $38.8 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Here’s how the Albrecht family got started and what we know about them:
In 1913, the Albrecht family opened a corner grocery store in Essen, Germany. After World War II, brothers Karl and Theo took over the business in 1946, opening dozens of stores and renamed it Aldi — short for Albrecht Discount.
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG via Getty Images
Source: Bloomberg
By 1953, there were over 30 Aldi stores across Germany.
Roland Scheidemann/picture alliance via Getty Images
Source: The Chicago Tribune
In 1960, Karl and Theo, after a disagreement about whether to sell cigarettes, split Aldi in half: Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord. Karl would operate stores in southwest Germany, the U.S., U.K., Australia and Eastern Europe, while Theo took the northern part of West Germany, western and southern Europe.
Roland Scheidemann/picture alliance via Getty Images
Source: Bloomberg, The New York Times
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – mgebel@businessinsider.com (Meira Gebel)