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ECONOMY

Aldi dynasty continue to lead German rich list

The best business to get into in Germany seems to be discount supermarkets - the owners of Aldi, Lidl and Kaufland again top the list of the country’s richest people.

Published: 10 October 2011 15:32 CEST
Aldi dynasty continue to lead German rich list
Photo:DPA

A survey published in this week’s manager magazin put owner of Aldi Süd, Karl Albrecht at the top of the list with his fortune of €17.2 billion.

Right behind him are the owners of Aldi Nord, Berthold and Theo Albrecht junior who are worth €16 billion. Dieter Schwarz, owner of Lidl and Kaufland came in third, with a fortune of €11.5 billion.

The recent Euro-crisis seems to have hit many of Germany’s mega-rich, with insurance and banking moguls, as well as those in the transport and construction industry, having experienced financial setbacks over the past months.

Among of the more unfortunate on the rich list this year is the Wacker family, whose fortune of €450 billion dropped to a mere €3.6 billion in the past 12 months, after stocks in their chemical company fell. High street drugstore founders, the Schlecker family also saw losses, as their €350 billion dropped to €1.95 billion.

BMW heiress Susanne Klatten boasts the biggest increase in wealth this year, as her previous €1.05 billion euro rose to €8.9 billion, putting her up in the top five with the supermarket moguls.

Even with the turbulence on the stock market, the total wealth of Germany’s 100 richest has increased by 6.5 percent to more than €307 billion over the past 12 months – although it is still significantly lower than 2008’s record total of €324.6 billion.

The number of families or individuals in Germany with a billion euros or more has also risen over the past 12 months from 91 to 108.

The manager magazin top ten richest Germans are –

1. Karl Albrecht and family (Aldi Süd) €17.20 billion

2. Berthold and Theo Albrecht junior and family (Aldi Nord) €16 billion

3. Dieter Schwarz (Lidl, Kaufland) €11.50 billion

4. Otto family (Otto mail order) €9.00 billion

5. Susanne Klatten (BMW, Altana) €8.90 billion

6. Reimann family (Reckitt Benckiser, Coty) €8 billion

7. Reinhold family Würth (Würth) €7.20 billion

8. Günter and Daniela Herz (Germanischer Lloyd) €7 billion

8. Oetker family (Oetker) €7 billion

10. Rethmann family (Remondis) €6 billion

The Local/jcw

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ECONOMY

How is Denmark’s economy handling inflation and rate rises?

Denmark's economy is now expected to avoid a recession in the coming years, with fewer people losing their jobs than expected, despite high levels of inflation and rising interest rates, The Danish Economic Council has said in a new report.

Published: 30 May 2023 15:46 CEST
How is Denmark's economy handling inflation and rate rises?

The council, led by four university economics professors commonly referred to as “the wise men” or vismænd in Denmark, gave a much rosier picture of Denmark’s economy in its spring report, published on Tuesday, than it did in its autumn report last year. 

“We, like many others, are surprised by how employment continues to rise despite inflation and higher interest rates,” the chair or ‘chief wise man’,  Carl-Johan Dalgaard, said in a press release.

“A significant drop in energy prices and a very positive development in exports mean that things have gone better than feared, and as it looks now, the slowdown will therefore be more subdued than we estimated in the autumn.”

In the English summary of its report, the council noted that in the autumn, market expectations were that energy prices would remain at a high level, with “a real concern for energy supply shortages in the winter of 2022/23”.

That the slowdown has been more subdued, it continued was largely due to a significant drop in energy prices compared to the levels seen in late summer 2022, and compared to the market expectations for 2023.  

The council now expects Denmark’s GDP growth to slow to 1 percent in 2023 rather than for the economy to shrink by 0.2 percent, as it predicted in the autumn. 

In 2024, it expects the growth rate to remain the same as in 2003, with another year of 1 percent GDP growth. In its autumn report it expected weaker growth of 0.6 percent in 2024.

What is the outlook for employment? 

In the autumn, the expert group estimated that employment in Denmark would decrease by 100,000 people towards the end of the 2023, with employment in 2024  about 1 percent below the estimated structural level. 

Now, instead, it expects employment will fall by just 50,000 people by 2025.

What does the expert group’s outlook mean for interest rates and government spending? 

Denmark’s finance minister Nikolai Wammen came in for some gentle criticism, with the experts judging that “the 2023 Finance Act, which was adopted in May, should have been tighter”.  The current government’s fiscal policy, it concludes “has not contributed to countering domestic inflationary pressures”. 

The experts expect inflation to stay above 2 percent in 2023 and 2024 and not to fall below 2 percent until 2025. 

If the government decides to follow the council’s advice, the budget in 2024 will have to be at least as tight, if not tighter than that of 2023. 

“Fiscal policy in 2024 should not contribute to increasing demand pressure, rather the opposite,” they write. 

The council also questioned the evidence justifying abolishing the Great Prayer Day holiday, which Denmark’s government has claimed will permanently increase the labour supply by 8,500 full time workers. 

“The council assumes that the abolition of Great Prayer Day will have a short-term positive effect on the labour supply, while there is no evidence of a long-term effect.” 

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