Feuding billionaire Aldi heirs put long-running dispute to rest
They split in 1960 in a dispute over whether to sell cigarettes, drawing a line through Germany that created Aldi Nord and Aldi Sued. Picture: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
One of Germany’s longest-running family feuds has finally been put to rest.
The heirs of Theo Albrecht, who helped build the Aldi supermarket empire with cut-price groceries and an array of specials from plants to pyjamas, have agreed to reorganise the Aldi Nord group under one holding foundation, according to a statement late on Monday.
The new entity will be held in equal part by the families of Theo’s son, Theo Jr, and his late brother, Berthold Albrecht.
The arrangement aims to end a dispute that drew the once-obsessively secretive clan into the courtroom and the public eye, and saw Theo Jr attack his brother’s widow, Babette Albrecht, for her spending on artworks and vintage cars.
Aldi Nord, controlled by three trusts, is the northern branch of the chain of discount supermarkets that originated when brothers Theo and Karl Albrecht took over their parents’ grocery store after the Second World War.
They split in 1960 in a dispute over whether to sell cigarettes, drawing a line through Germany that created Aldi Nord and Aldi Sued.
The two branches now have more than 10,000 stores combined, both in Germany and in international markets like the UK. Theo’s side of the family also owns Trader Joe’s, which it bought in 1979.
