Babette Albrecht

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Babette Albrecht , née Schönbohm (* 1959 ), is a German billionaire widow and co-owner of the companies Aldi Nord and Trader Joe’s .

Origin and private matters

Babette Albrecht attended the Schloss Eringerfeld boarding school , where she obtained her secondary school leaving certificate . She later began training to be a medical assistant , which she dropped out. At the age of 25, she married Berthold Albrecht (1954–2012), the son of Aldi Nord founder Theo Albrecht (1922–2010). Berthold Albrecht was chairman of the non-dissolvable Markus Foundation , which is responsible for the total assets of Aldi-Nord. There he was mainly responsible for the US food retail chain Trader Joe’s , which has been part of the Aldi-Nord group since 1979. He also owned Weba-Holding GmbH . Babette Albrecht and her children have a stake in Aldi Nord and Trader Joe’s through the Jakobus Foundation . Berthold Albrecht was one of the richest Germans . In the Forbes list for 2012, he was in second place with his brother Theo Albrecht junior , with an estimated total fortune of around 17.8 billion US dollars, behind their uncle Karl Albrecht .

Babette Albrecht is the mother of five children, including quadruplets born in 1990 .

Legal disputes

B. Albrecht ./. H. Achenbach

In 2012, Babette Albrecht was financially damaged by the art consultant Helge Achenbach . Since June 11, 2014, Achenbach was in the custody of eating prison after Babette Albrecht had shown him in connection with the sale of works of art and vintage cars for fraud by "hidden surcharges". Achenbach sold works of art and vintage cars worth around 120 million euros to Babette Albrecht's husband (Berthold Albrecht), who died in 2012. Overall, according to media reports, damage of around 60 million euros should have occurred. Babette Albrecht filed a civil action for damages worth almost 20 million euros with the Düsseldorf Regional Court. The lawsuit was directed against Achenbach and its two companies, Achenbach Kunstberatung and State of the Art . A complaint from Achenbach's lawyers was rejected by the Essen District Court on July 24, 2014 because of the urgent suspicion and the risk of escape and blackout. On November 11, 2014, the 6th Civil Chamber at the Düsseldorf Regional Court began the trial against Achenbach. With a judgment of January 20, 2015, the 6th Civil Chamber of the Düsseldorf Regional Court sentenced Achenbach to pay damages in the amount of 19,360,760.70 euros to the five heirs of Berthold Albrecht. The court saw it as proven that Achenbach unjustifiably charged a surcharge equal to the convicted sum instead of the agreed commission, without informing Albrecht. In the opinion of the Chamber, no economically insightful person and certainly no entrepreneur like Berthold Albrecht would have accepted such an opaque pricing. The criminal trial against Achenbach with charges of fraud , forgery and breach of trust began on December 9, 2014 before the large criminal chamber of the Essen district court . After Achenbach's confession, he was sentenced to six years in prison on March 16, 2015, among other things for fraud in 18 cases.

B. Albrecht ./. T. Albrecht junior

Babette Albrecht is currently in a legal dispute with her brother-in-law Theo Albrecht junior. Theo Albrecht junior and his mother Cäcilia, the wife of Aldi Nord founder Theodor Paul Albrecht (1922-2010), accuse Babette Albrecht's family of wanting to pull too much money out of the company. However, this is vehemently denied by Babette. You don't allow yourself an inadequate lifestyle and, moreover, are interested in actively contributing to the good development of the group. Rather, statements by Theo and Cäcilia Albrecht in terms of "malevolence cannot be surpassed", it says in a letter. In truth, Albrecht junior is only interested in "seizing power in the company and dismantling the family of his deceased brother". Albrecht junior and Cäcilia Albrecht deny this. The Schleswig Higher Administrative Court will most likely be hearing in the second half of 2017 on the family dispute between the Albrecht family. It's about the balance of power at the Jakobus Foundation, which holds important shares in Aldi Nord and Trader Joe's. The other two foundations are named Lukas and Markus. All three foundations have to unanimously approve important corporate decisions, such as investments in foreign markets or contract extensions for top managers. The composition of the board of the Jakobus Foundation is controversial.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sören Jensen, Ursula Schwarzer: The rebel. In: heft.manager-magazin.de. May 2017, accessed April 26, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Sören Jensen, Ursula Schwarzer: A terribly weird family . In: Manager Magazin , No. 12/2014, November 21, 2014, p. 35.
  3. ↑ Sören Jensen, Ursula Schwarzer: Wish for revenge. In: manager-magazin.de. November 23, 2017, accessed April 26, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Martin Childs: Berthold Albrecht: Aldi heir who helped build the company's position. In: independent.co.uk. December 19, 2012, accessed April 26, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Wirtschaftswoche ( Memento from September 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Berthold Albrecht . In: Der Spiegel , No. 50/2012, December 10, 2012, p. 170.
  7. ↑ Aldi heir Berthold Albrecht was "very popular everywhere" . In: focus .de , December 7, 2012, accessed on April 21, 2013.
  8. ↑ Albrecht-Erben complain: The damages lawsuit against Achenbach is being reopened. In: rp-online.de. April 24, 2017, accessed April 26, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Million-dollar deals with art and vintage cars ( Memento from November 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) WDR.de, December 9, 2014.
  10. ↑ bähr / dpa: imprisonment for art consultant Achenbach. In: FAZ.net . March 16, 2015, accessed April 26, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Johannes Röhrig: Aldi-Erbe breaks its silence - The dispute over power and billions. In: stern.de . May 24, 2016, accessed April 26, 2020 .
  12. ^ Aldi-Nord: Theo Albrecht junior wants to push other heirs from the group. In: Spiegel Online . April 29, 2016, accessed April 26, 2020 .
  13. ↑ chz: Aldi-Nord: dispute among the heirs. In: Focus Online . April 30, 2016, accessed October 14, 2018 .
  14. ^ Dpa: Theo Albrecht versus Babette Albrecht: Power struggle in court at Aldi Nord. In: shz.de. May 25, 2016, accessed April 26, 2020 .
  15. ↑ kng: Theo Albrecht jr. sees Aldi empire endangered. In: stern.de . February 26, 2017, accessed April 26, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Albrecht, Babette
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schönbohm, Babette (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German billionaire widow and co-owner of Aldi Nord and Trader Joe's
DATE OF BIRTH 1959