Albrecht owns half of two closely held supermarket chains: Aldi Nord and Trader Joe's. The family of his late brother, Berthold, controls the rest of the Essen, Germany and Pasadena, California-based chains. The grocers operate more than 5,200 stores worldwide and had $41.5 billion in combined revenue in 2018.
Theo Albrecht Jr's net worth of $8.44B can buy ...
... and is equivalent to ...
The majority of Theo Albrecht Jr.'s fortune is derived from a 50 percent stake in two closely held grocery chains: Aldi Nord, a discount food retailer in Germany, and Trader Joe's, a U.S.-based supermarket chain.
The companies had combined revenue of $41.5 billion in 2018 and operate more than 5,200 stores worldwide, according to retail consultants Edge by Ascential Retail Insight.
The value of Aldi Nord is based on the average enterprise value-to-sales multiple of four publicly traded peer companies: Tesco, Casino, Carrefour and Sainsbury. The value of Trader Joe's is based on the average enterprise value-to-sales multiple of two publicly traded peers: Kroger and Sprouts Farmers Market.
Albrecht and his family controls the two retailers through the Nortorf, Germany-based Markus trust.
Father Theo Albrecht Sr. was born in Essen, Germany, in 1922 to Karl Albrecht Sr., a miner, and Anna Albrecht, who owned and ran a local supermarket. Theo Sr. took over his mother's grocery store in Essen with his brother, Karl Jr., following their return from WWII, in which they each served in the German army. By 1953, the brothers had expanded to about 30 German discount supermarkets under the name "Albrechts."
In the early 1960s, with 300 stores in the Essen region, Albrechts supermarkets went national, and the company's name was changed to Aldi (Albrecht-Discount). The brothers soon split Aldi into two separate companies -- Aldi Sued and Aldi Nord -- after they couldn't agree on whether they should sell cigarettes in their stores.
Theo Sr. took the northern part of West Germany, plus western and southern Europe. He acquired U.S. retail food chain Trader Joe's in 1979. Karl owns and operates the stores in southern and southwest Germany, the U.S., U.K., Australia and eastern Europe.
Theo Sr. shunned public life after he was kidnapped in 1971. He stepped down as Aldi Nord CEO in 1993, and died in July 2010, at age 88. He was married to Cecilia Albrecht, and had two sons, Berthold and Theo Jr., and six grandchildren.
Theo Jr. and Berthold each received half of their father's fortune. Theo Jr. is married with one child and serves on Aldi Nord's supervisory board. Berthold died in December 2012.