Discount supermarkets pioneer Karl Albrecht, co-founder of Aldi chain, dies

Karl Albrecht, the German businessman who became one the world's wealthiest people after co-founding the Aldi discount supermarket chain in the 1960s, has died. He was 94.

He died on July 16, Sarah Twyman, an Aldi spokeswoman, said.

Albrecht died in Essen, Germany, and was buried in a private ceremony on Sunday, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.

He was the second-richest person in Germany and the 35th-wealthiest in the world, with an estimated fortune of US$20.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

With his brother, Theo, he built a business that ranked as the world's 11th-biggest retailer last year, according to London-based research company Planet Retail.

"He had a strong belief that everyone should be able to consume high-quality food and beverages at the lowest possible prices," Twyman said. "He devoted his life to making this belief a reality."

The Albrecht brothers split the Essen-based chain into separate companies, Aldi Sued and Aldi Nord, in 1962, following a feud over whether to sell cigarettes.