Reclusive Aldi co-founder dies

Theo Albrecht

Theo Albrecht, the billionaire co-founder of budget supermarket empire Aldi who famously hasn't been seen in public for almost 40 years, has reportedly died at the age of 88.

Ranked by Forbes as Germany's second richest person with a fortune of almost US$22 billion, Albercht started the retail chain in postwar Germany from a single grocery store with his brother Karl. They turned it into one of the country's biggest chains thanks to their focus on a limited range of goods at bargain-basement prices.

This ‘Albrecht-Discount' was shortened to Aldi, and the shops spread all over Germany and are now found in over 20 countries worldwide.

In 1960, the brothers split up the company, divided the German market into North and South and agreed not to make inroads into each other's territory. Theo took the Northern stores.

Reclusive founders

Almost nothing is known about the two brothers and Theo's last public appearance was in 1971, the year he was kidnapped for 17 days and then released for a ransom of seven million deutschmarks (around €3.5m in today's money). Karl is said to be just as reclusive and is currently the richest man in Germany.

Forbes magazine described the pair as 'more elusive than the Yeti'.

In a statement, the company said, "Aldi mourns a person who was always decent with his business partners and employees and always treated them with respect.

"We are losing in him our highly respected founder and an upright person."

Theo is survived by his brother and by children, but as with his other biographical details, it is unclear how many. It is believed he died from a long illness.

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