Karl Albrecht Jr.
German heir to the Aldi Süd supermarket fortune
| Karl Albrecht Jr.
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 1948 (Forbes) |
| Nationality | German |
| Residence | Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany (Forbes) |
| Known for | Co-heir of Aldi Süd |
| Sibling(s) | Karl Albrecht (father); Beate Heister |
Karl Albrecht Jr. (born 1948) is a German heir to the Aldi Süd supermarket fortune. He is the son of the Aldi co-founder Karl Albrecht, who died in 2014, and the brother of Beate Heister.[1] On 10 November 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Karl Albrecht Jr. and family 149th in the world (tied with Beate Heister), with an estimated net worth of US$18.5 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as supermarkets.[1][2] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Karl Albrecht Jr. and family 146th, at US$19.1 billion.[3] Forbes reports that he held various positions at the company but withdrew after a cancer diagnosis, and that he has no children.[1] The family's stake is held through the Siepmann-Stiftung, a family foundation set up by his father.[4][5]
Background
Forbes lists his residence as Mülheim (Muelheim), the home of Aldi Süd's national service company, and his source of wealth as supermarkets, and classes his wealth as inherited.[1][6] In 2019 Radio Mülheim, citing Bilanz magazine, named him and his sister as the richest people in Mülheim. It described them as co-owners of Aldi Süd, each with an estimated €13.5 billion.[7]
Aldi Süd
Karl Albrecht Sr. and his brother Theo Albrecht took over their family's corner grocery shop in Essen after the Second World War. In 1961 they split the business. Karl took the stores in southern Germany (Aldi Süd) and the rights to the Aldi brand in the UK, Australia and the US, while Theo took northern Germany and the rest of Europe and bought Trader Joe's in 1971.[1] Karl Sr. died in 2014 at 94.[1] In November 2024 Aldi Süd said it had about 7,000 stores in eleven countries. They included about 2,150 in the US, 960 in the UK and 22 in China, and its national service company was based in Mülheim an der Ruhr. It describes itself as linked by family to the Aldi Nord group.[6]
Ownership: the Siepmann-Stiftung
WAZ reported in 2014 that Karl Albrecht had put most of his fortune, estimated at more than €18 billion, into a foundation years earlier, and that the Siepmann-Stiftung owns the Aldi Süd empire.[4] A 2016 newsletter by the lawyer and tax adviser Thorsten Klinkner says the family foundation was set up in 1973. It is named after his mother's maiden name, based in Eichenau in Bavaria, controls about 75% of Aldi Süd's assets and holds the Aldi Süd trademark.[5] The newsletter quotes the foundation's purpose as making grants to family beneficiaries and preserving the Aldi Süd group. It names two charitable foundations, the Oertl-Stiftung (formerly the Maria-Albrecht-Stiftung), which supports cardiovascular research, and the Elisen-Stiftung, which funds cultural projects. Each would receive half of the Siepmann-Stiftung's assets if Karl Albrecht had no descendants left.[5] The same newsletter says that, as far as was known, Peter Max Heister, Beate Heister's son, had led the foundation since March 2006. In 2010 its board included Beate Heister, the pollster Renate Köcher and the former BASF chief Jürgen Hambrecht.[5] In 2016 Lebensmittel Zeitung reported that Peter Max Heister, one of Karl Albrecht's six grandchildren, was to chair Aldi Süd's advisory board.[8]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 11 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2016. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.[3][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 21 | 25.9 |
| 2017 | 24 | 27.2 |
| 2018 | 27 | 29.8 |
| 2019 | 23 | 36.1 |
| 2020 | 23 | 33.3 |
| 2021 | 34 | 39.2 |
| 2022 | 35 | 36.8 |
| 2023 | 108 | 15.8 |
| 2024 | 118 | 15.9 |
| 2025 | 143 | 15.0 |
| 2026 | 146 | 19.1 |
Political activity
No political donations or public political statements by Albrecht were found in the sources opened.
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
Company level: Aldi Süd had 22 stores in China in November 2024.[6]
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
No political donations or public political statements were found in the sources opened.
Other international links
Company level: Aldi Süd operates in eleven countries, including about 2,150 stores in the US and 960 in the UK (November 2024).[6]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Karl Albrecht Jr. (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/karl-albrecht-jr/) Forbes, live record, read 10 November 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 10 November 2026 13:47 UTC, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Michael Kohlstadt, Aldi-Stiftung schützt das Erbe von Gründer Karl Albrecht WAZ, 6 August 2014, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Thorsten Klinkner, Karl Albrecht und die Stiftung als Top-Holding (Stifterbrief 07.2016) UnternehmerKompositionen, July 2016, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Aldi Süd, ALDI SÜD Gruppe: Daten und Fakten (factsheet, November 2024) Aldi Süd, November 2024, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Radio Mülheim, Mülheims reichste Familien Radio Mülheim, 18 September 2019, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Christiane Preuschat and Bernd Biehl, Familienerbe: Aldi Süd regelt Nachfolge Lebensmittel Zeitung, 4 November 2016, accessed 10 November 2026.