The Schwarz Group (German: Schwarz Gruppe ) is a German multinational retailer that operates stores under the Lidl and Kaufland brands. It is the largest European retailer and the fourth-largest retailer in the world by revenue. The Schwarz Group's stores sell mostly private label brands, and the family-owned group also operates its own production facilities for baked goods, soft drinks and ice cream .
20-459: The business was founded in 1930 by Josef Schwarz (1903–1977), father of Dieter Schwarz . It is headquartered in Neckarsulm , Baden-Württemberg , Germany. The Schwarz Group is an international trading company with 500,000 employees and operates over 12,900 stores (in 2021) across 33 countries. It is made up of the two retail divisions, Lidl and Kaufland . In addition to the retail business,
40-458: A Catholic family in modest circumstances in Essen , Germany. Their father, Karl Sr., worked as a miner and later as a baker's assistant, while their mother Anna (née Siepmann) ran a small grocery store in the workers' quarter of Schonnebeck [ de ] , a suburb of Essen. Theo completed an apprenticeship in his mother's store, while Karl worked in a delicatessen shop. Karl served in
60-641: A diverse range of sectors and are not in competition with each other. This is not the case of the Schwarz Group's main companies, Lidl and Kaufland, which are rival food retailers. Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (Lidl stores in Europe and the US) and LD-Stiftung (Lidl stores in Germany) are two food retail companies which together operate around 12,000 Lidl retail outlets worldwide. Regional warehouse operations and
80-649: A diverse range of third-party businesses. In 2021 Prezero acquired the Suez Environment waste disposal and recycling operations in The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, and Poland. In 2021, Schwarz acquired Israeli cyber security company XM Cyber. In 2023, Schwarz established the Schwarz Digits division, offering cloud computing services, operating under the STACKIT brand. The cloud service
100-596: Is a German billionaire businessman, and owner of the Schwarz-Gruppe . He is the former chairman and CEO of the supermarket chain Lidl , and the hypermarket chain Kaufland . In 1973, Dieter Schwarz joined the "Lidl & Schwarz KG" business of his father Josef Schwarz and opened the company's first discount supermarket, inspired by Karl and Theo Albrecht . After his father died in 1977, he took control of
120-466: Is a global environmental service provider specializing in waste management and recycling, with a strong presence across Europe and the United States through its extensive network of 430 locations. While primarily serving the waste disposal needs of entities within the Schwarz Group, such as Lidl and Kaufland, Prezero also engages with external clients, offering tailored waste management solutions to
140-573: Is ranked #37 with a net worth of $ 38 Billion. In 1963, Schwarz married Franziska Weipert. They live in Heilbronn and have two daughters, Regine and Monika. He was strongly influenced by his membership in the Protestant free church community . Schwarz is known to be very protective of his privacy, to an extent that no media recordings of Schwarz exist, and he refuses any kind of interview. Meanwhile, just three photos of him are known to exist in
160-417: Is spread over five (former: four) groups of companies, which are not linked to each other under company law, but are sister companies: This structure often referred to as a conglomerate, is not a corporation under commercial law. As such, no consolidated balance sheet is produced. It has an intricate and complex investment structure. A conglomerate, as used colloquially, requires main companies which operate in
180-560: The Ruhr , while Karl retained those south of the Ruhr. This division led to the opening of the first Aldi (short for Albrecht Discount) in 1962, and the two groups became known as Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd, respectively. In 1994, Karl Albrecht removed himself from the daily operations of Aldi Süd and took the position of chairman of the board until 2002. At the beginning of 2002, he also relinquished this position, thereby completely ceding control of
200-594: The Wehrmacht during World War II and was wounded on the Eastern Front . After the war, the brothers jointly took over their mother's business and founded Albrecht KG . In 1960, the brothers faced a disagreement over whether to stock cigarettes in their stores. While Theo advocated for selling cigarettes, Karl expressed concerns that they would attract shoplifters. As a result, they decided to divide their stores into two parts: Theo retained all stores north of
220-595: The Schwarz Group also owns brands in the beverage, baked goods, sweets and ice cream sectors. The Schwarz Group has been involved in the collection, sorting and recycling of recyclable materials for many years. With the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, the company supports education, primarily in Dieter Schwarz's hometown of Heilbronn . The company had a €125.3 billion turnover in the 2020/2021 fiscal year. The operational business of Schwarz Group
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#1732772946810240-459: The discount chain. He became CEO and expanded the business outside of Germany. Soon afterwards, Schwarz bought the naming rights for Lidl from an unrelated person named Ludwig Lidl, a former schoolteacher, in order to side-step a legal battle with the co-owner A. Lidl. In 2009, he was estimated to be worth 10 billion euro. As of October 2012, he was estimated to be worth 12 billion euro, an increase from 11.5 billion euro in 2011. In 2013, he
260-457: The firm. As of 2010s, the business is no longer run by any of Karl Albrecht's family members. Karl Albrecht was a very reclusive man who had not taken part in public life for several years prior to his death. As a result, little is known about him. Forbes magazine reported that he had two children, neither of whom was employed by Aldi. He reportedly lived in Essen, as did his brother Theo until
280-457: The five meat processing plants are operated as separate subsidiaries. Schwarz Produktion Stiftung & Co. KG is a food production company specialising in the manufacture of own-brand goods for the supermarket chains Lidl and Kaufland. They also produce a limited quantity of goods for third parties. Their operations include the reuse, recycling and production of new plastic bottles for the purpose of beverage filling. Prezero Stiftung & Co. KG
300-443: The latter's death. Golf was one of his hobbies, and Albrecht played the sport on his own golf course , the Öschberghof, which he built in 1976. He also raised orchids . In 2014, Albrecht was listed as one of the richest people in the world with an estimated net worth of US$ 23.14 billion . Forbes magazine listed him as the third richest man in the world in 2004. In 2012, with an estimated net worth in 2011 of US$ 25.4 billion ,
320-566: The press or in the image search of Google. Karl Albrecht Karl Hans Albrecht ( German: [ˈalbʁɛçt] ; 20 February 1920 – 16 July 2014) was a German entrepreneur who founded the discount supermarket chain Aldi with his brother Theo . He was the richest person in Germany for many years. In February 2014, he was ranked the 21st-richest person in the world by Hurun Report . Karl and Theo Albrecht were born and raised in
340-400: The sizeable real estate business are managed by regional and national branches of the companies respectively. Tailwind Shipping Lines, a container shipping provider, is a subsidiary of the business. Kaufland Stiftung & Co. KG is a food retailer with operating approximately 1,450 branches. The regional warehouses and real estate business fall under the regional and national companies while
360-513: The tax-exempt Dieter Schwarz Foundation ( gGmbH , limited liability company with a charitable purpose), when he transferred his shares in Lidl and Kaufland into it, deciding just how much of his profits go into the foundation. The Dieter Schwarz Foundation supports education and daycare facilities for children, for example, as well as science and research projects. As per Forbes list of The Richest People In The World, dated 8 March 2024, Dieter Schwarz
380-471: Was born out of internal needs of the retail business, but was opened up to external customers following sharp growth and a market demand for non-US cloud services. Schwarz also holds a minority stake in Aleph Alpha , a German AI startup. This German corporation or company article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Dieter Schwarz Dieter Schwarz (born 24 September 1939)
400-492: Was estimated be worth €19.6 billion, and ranked the 24th richest person in the world. As of February 2014, he was ranked as 23rd richest person in the world in the Hurun Report Global Rich List. In 2023, Forbes listed Schwarz as the wealthiest man in Germany and the 25th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of US$ 47.2 billion. Since 1999, Schwarz manages his resources through
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