The Albrecht Family Feud: A Billion-Dollar Legal Battle Over Family Trusts

It's never a good situation when you find yourself taking your own mother to court. But that's what's happening in Germany between two members of the billionaire Albrecht family, best known for late patriarch Theo Albrecht's co-founding the Aldi discount supermarket chain. Theo's fortune of almost $20 billion is now the subject of a court battle, with Theo's grandson Nicolay Albrecht suing Babette Albrecht and three of his sisters over alleged embezzlement, as originally reported by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung as well as the Guardian and other outlets.

Aldi was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht back in the 1940s, and in the early 60s was split into a southern division, Aldi Süd, and a northern one, Aldi Nord, which counts Trader Joe's among its holdings. Nicolay is alleging in court that Babette, his three sisters, and their attorney have been drawing from one of the family trust funds to the tune of millions of dollars in an improper fashion, and he's looking for unspecified damages in his day in court. This feud is just the latest chapter in a long-standing family conflict that has escalated since 2012, when Theo's second son, Berthold Albrecht, passed away, leaving behind a will that imposed significant restrictions on the control of the foundations holding Aldi Nord's financial assets.

In 2019, a German court ordered some of the Albrechts to step back from their positions on the board of Jakobus Stiftung, one of the family's three foundations, but they reportedly failed to comply. This ongoing court battle raises further questions about the future of the Albrecht family fortune. As all three foundations are essential for maintaining the operational capacity of their worldwide businesses, the conflict could effectively paralyze the company's ability to function until a resolution is reached.