Karl Albrecht Biography
On this 28th day of the last month in 2011, we will try to know more about Karl Albrecht through Karl Albrecht biography. If you are not familiar with the name, he is a German entrepreneur who founded discount chain supermarket Aldi and currently holds position as the 12th richest billionaire of 2011 according to Forbes Magazine with an estimated wealth of US$25.5 billion. At the age of 91 this year, he is also recorded as the oldest billionaire in the top 20 Forbes billionaire list.
Karl Albrecht biography
Karl Hans Albrecht was born on February 20, 1920. He has a brother named Theo with whom he founded the chain supermarket Aldi together. Both of these German boys were raised in a really modest neighborhood in Essen, Germany. Their father was a miner and their mother owned a grocery store in an area in suburb Essen called Schonnenbeck. In this small store, Theo worked as an apprentice while Karl worked in a delicatessen shop nearby. Later, their father worked as a baker assistant.
During his teenage, Karl served some of his years in the Nazi German Army in World War II. After the war was over, he joined his brother who had taken over their mother business. This was when the first store of Aldi was opened.
The store was named Aldi as the abbreviation of Albrecht-Discount, taking their family name and the cheap nature of the store. In 1961, Karl and Theo decided to split their operation into Aldi Süd (south) operated by Theo and Aldi Nord (north) operated by Karl. In 1994, Karl took the position of chairman board of Aldi and resigned his position in 2002.
Karl Albrecht now resides in Essen, Germany. He has two children. He reportedly enjoys playing golf and has his own personal golf course which he built in 1976 called the Oschberghof. Raising orchids and collecting antique typewriters are also in the list of his hobbies in Karl Albrecht biography.
