A “Phantom” turns 85 years old

Almost everyone knows his supermarkets in Germany and Austria, but most people would not recognize him if he were standing next to them on the shelf during their weekly shopping. Founder of Lidl and Kaufland, Thomas Schwarz, is considered a “phantom” who has stayed out of the public eye for decades. There are hardly any photos of the entrepreneur. On Tuesday, one of the richest Germans 85 years alt.

Father’s business

Schwarz was born on 24 September 1939 in Heilbronnthe city where he still lives today. After graduating from high school and spending a year abroad in the USA, he began his apprenticeship as a businessman in father’s business “Lidl and Schwarz” and rose quickly.

The father-son team opened their first supermarket in 1968 in Backnang, Württemberg, under the name “Commercial Court”The success story of the discounters then followed in the 1970s: Dieter Schwarz revived the name “Lidl” in order not to Black market A man named Ludwig Lidl is said to have received around 1,000 D-Marks for the naming rights.

After the death of his father Josef, Schwarz took over sole management of the company in 1977. The 15,000 square metre 1984 the first Kaufland supermarket, with which meat products, baked goods and catering also found their way into the discounters. By the end of the 1990s, Schwarz had expanded his supermarket network to the eastern states, to France, Italy and the Czech Republic.

Disputes behind the scenes

At the end of the 1990s, Schwarz withdrew from the operational business and handed over the business to a management team of confidants. In 2004, he handed over the management of Treuhand KG to Klaus Gehrig. Kidnapping threats against his both daughterswhich he with his Wife Franziska have contributed to this. But in the background, Schwarz still holds the reins. Again and again, there have been Disputes within the board of directors and dismissals in the management team.

For example, in 2014, as CEO Heinz Holland and Head of Purchasing Dawid Jaschok had to leave because of “irreconcilable views” on the direction of the business. “There is obviously a huge internal row,” the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported at the time.

Lidl scandals

Back in 2008, a spying scandal at Lidl made negative headlines. The supermarket had employees in hundreds of branches hidden cameras The company apologized, but also pointed to high damages caused by ShopliftingThe incident became public through an article in the “Stern” newspaper. Only a year later, the “Spiegel” newspaper reported on a Misuse of employee datain which Lidl collected information about employees’ illnesses.

Schwarz is said to still live in Heilbronn today and has a second home on a lake in Upper Bavaria. With his foundation, Schwarz supports his home region and, for example, financed 20 economics professorships at the Technical University of Munich’s Heilbronn branch with a three-digit million amount. At the end of 2021, “Manager Magazin” even wrote: “With the force of his billions in assets Retail tycoon Dieter Schwarz is transforming his hometown of Heilbronn into a place according to his ideas.”

Private trading tycoon

The US magazine “Forbes” lists Schwarz among the Top 50 richest people in the worldwith a fortune of about 35 billion eurosThe Schwarz Group currently employs almost 600,000 people in almost 14,000 stores in 30 countries and is the third largest food retailer in the world, behind US giants Walmart and Costco.

Schwarz, who usually operates incognito, came out of hiding once in recent years. At the beginning of 2014, he surprisingly reached into the Mayoral election his hometown. He spoke out in favor of the SPD candidate Harry Mergel who won the election.

The “secretary” is married, as the “Handelsblatt” called him in 2014 alongside the term “Phantom” called, since 1963. His two daughters Regine and Monika could take on management roles in the group in the future, as was announced in 2023. It is unlikely that he will publicly comment on this. Even on his special day.