Theodor Paul Albrecht (28 March 1922, Essen, Rhine Province – 24 July 2010), generally known as Theo Albrecht, was a German entrepreneur, who in 2010 was ranked by Forbes as the 31st richest person in the world, with a net worth of $16.7 billion. He owned and was the CEO of the Aldi Nord discount supermarket chain. In the US he owned the Trader Joe's specialty grocery store chain. His brother Karl Albrecht owns the Aldi Süd discount supermarket chain. The two chains originally were a single family enterprise until a friendly division of assets in 1960. Aldi Süd operates the Aldi groceries in the United States. So Aldi and Trader Joe's, while owned by the brothers, have separate and distinct ownership and operations.
In 1971, Albrecht was kidnapped for 17 days. A ransom of seven million German marks (approximately $2 million at the time) was paid for his release.
Both Albrecht brothers have been reported by journalists to be reclusive and little is known about their personal lives. The last published photo of Theo Albrecht dates to 1971, one day after his kidnapping. Another photo of the two Albrecht brothers together was taken in 1987 by journalist Franz Ruch.