Many of Germany’s largest fortunes rest on companies that have stayed under family ownership, some of them for generations. Supermarket chains, carmakers, drug companies and industrial suppliers all feature among the sources of wealth. A smaller number of fortunes come from technology.
The captured Forbes dataset records 208 billionaires with German citizenship. This list takes the hundred largest of them. Each amount is Forbes’ estimate of net worth on 12 September 2026, shown in US dollars rather than in euros.
Who is the richest person in Germany?
Dieter Schwarz, with an estimated net worth of US$60.9bn, according to Forbes’ real-time list as captured on 12 September 2026.
Private companies are hard to price
Several of the largest German fortunes rest on companies that are not listed on a stock exchange. Without a daily share price, Forbes has to estimate their value from financial results and comparisons with listed rivals. Those estimates can be revised substantially when new figures appear, so the order among privately held fortunes is less certain than it looks.
Branches of the same family
Where a business has passed through several generations, ownership is often divided among relatives. Forbes sometimes lists siblings or branches of a family separately and sometimes together under “& family”. Two entries with the same surname may therefore reflect one business divided between heirs.
Citizenship is the source’s label
This list follows Forbes’ citizenship field. Some German citizens in it may live outside Germany, and a person can be closely linked with a German business while holding another citizenship. The label does not describe where a company operates or where tax is paid.
What this snapshot shows
Dieter Schwarz leads this captured list at approximately US$60.89bn. The entry at number 100, Nicola Leibinger-Kammueller, is approximately US$2.61bn. The first ten account for 34.9% of the sum of the hundred reported values. That share is calculated within this list; it is not a share of all wealth in Germany.
The first ten
Dieter Schwarz
Source of wealth: Retail ·
Dieter Schwarz’s net worth is about US$60.9bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Dieter Schwarz’s father, Josef, became a partner in a fruit wholesaler in 1930. Dieter opened the first Lidl discount store in 1973 and took charge of the business when his father died in 1977. The first Kaufland store opened in Neckarsulm in 1984.
Schwarz Group, which owns both chains, is now Europe’s largest retailer. Forbes notes that a foundation owns the group, but treats Schwarz as its effective owner because he keeps control. The group also runs food production, recycling and cloud-computing businesses.
Andreas von Bechtolsheim & family
Source of wealth: Google ·
Andreas von Bechtolsheim and family are worth about US$40.2bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Andreas von Bechtolsheim left a Stanford doctoral programme in 1982 to co-found Sun Microsystems, where he was chief hardware designer. He later started networking companies, including Granite Systems, which Cisco bought in 1996, and Arista Networks.
Forbes traces much of his fortune to a $100,000 investment in Google in 1998, made before the company was formally incorporated. He also owns nearly 17% of Arista, where he is chief architect. Forbes says he has earmarked that stake for his heirs.
Reinhold Wuerth & family
Source of wealth: Fasteners ·
Reinhold Wuerth and family are worth about US$28.6bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Reinhold Würth joined his father’s screw wholesale business in Künzelsau as an apprentice in 1949. His father died in 1954, when Reinhold was 19, and he took over the firm. He set up its first foreign sales company in 1962.
The Würth Group now has more than 400 companies supplying fasteners, tools and fittings to trade and industrial customers. In 1987 Würth transferred his shares to family foundations, and Forbes lists him with his family. His art collection holds more than 18,000 works.
Susanne Klatten
Source of wealth: BMW, pharmaceuticals ·
Susanne Klatten’s net worth is about US$25.6bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Susanne Klatten is the daughter of Herbert Quandt, the industrialist who guided BMW’s rise in the luxury car market. When he died, she inherited a 12.5% stake in BMW and his majority holding in the pharmaceuticals and chemicals group Altana.
Her BMW stake grew after her mother’s death in 2015, and Forbes puts it at about 19%. She has sat on BMW’s supervisory board since 1997. She also owns all of Altana, which sold its pharmaceutical business in 2006 and now makes speciality chemicals.
Stefan Quandt
Source of wealth: BMW ·
Stefan Quandt’s net worth is about US$24.8bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Stefan Quandt is the son of Herbert Quandt, who saved BMW from bankruptcy in 1959, and Johanna Quandt. He inherited 17.4% of the carmaker when his father died in 1982. He joined BMW’s supervisory board in 1997 and is now its deputy chairman.
Further purchases and shares inherited from his mother raised his holding, which Forbes puts at 23.6%. That makes him BMW’s largest single shareholder. Through his holding company, Delton, he also owns firms including the logistics group Logwin.
Karl Albrecht Jr. & family
Source of wealth: Supermarkets ·
Karl Albrecht Jr. and family are worth about US$17.3bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Karl Albrecht Jr.’s father, Karl, founded Aldi with his brother Theo, starting from their family’s grocery shop in Essen after the Second World War. When the brothers divided the business, Karl took the southern German stores, Aldi Süd, and the brand rights in markets including the US.
Karl Jr. worked in several roles at Aldi Süd, including running its US operations, before retiring in 2004. He and his sister, Beate Heister, control the Siepmann foundation, which holds most of Aldi Süd.
Beate Heister
Source of wealth: Supermarkets ·
Beate Heister’s net worth is about US$17.3bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Beate Heister is the daughter of Aldi co-founder Karl Albrecht. He and his brother Theo built the discount chain from the family grocery shop in Essen that they took over after the Second World War. When the brothers split the business, Karl kept Aldi Süd.
Aldi Süd now runs stores in southern Germany, the US, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere. Heister and her brother, Karl Albrecht Jr., control the Siepmann foundation, which holds most of it. She, her husband and a son sit on Aldi’s advisory board.
Georg Schaeffler
Source of wealth: Auto parts ·
Georg Schaeffler’s net worth is about US$16.6bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Georg Schaeffler’s father, also called Georg, founded the bearings maker Schaeffler with his brother Wilhelm in 1946. Its needle roller bearings drove the success of the INA business. The group later added LuK and FAG, and in 2008 agreed a debt-financed takeover of the larger Continental.
Georg and his mother, Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann, inherited the family holding when his father died in 1996. Forbes says their combined 46% stake in Continental accounts for most of their wealth. Both companies supply parts to the car industry.
Theo Albrecht Jr & family
Source of wealth: Aldi, Trader Joe's ·
Theo Albrecht Jr and family are worth about US$16.2bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Theo Albrecht Jr.’s father, Theo, founded Aldi with his brother Karl, starting from their family’s grocery shop in Essen. When the brothers divided the business, Theo took the stores in northern Germany, which became Aldi Nord. Aldi Nord later bought the US grocery chain Trader Joe’s.
When his father died in 2010, Aldi Nord and Trader Joe’s passed to Theo Jr. and his brother Berthold, who died in 2012. Forbes counts Theo Jr. among the heirs, with Berthold’s family. Aldi Nord is owned through three family foundations.
Ludwig Merckle
Source of wealth: Pharmaceuticals ·
Ludwig Merckle’s net worth is about US$15.9bn, according to Forbes’ estimate captured on 12 September 2026.
Ludwig Merckle’s father, Adolf, founded the generic-drug maker Ratiopharm in 1973 and built large stakes in other firms, including HeidelbergCement. Losses in the 2008 financial crisis left the family group heavily indebted. Adolf died in January 2009, and Ludwig led the rescue that followed.
To repay debt, the family sold a large part of its Heidelberg holding and, in 2010, sold Ratiopharm to Teva. Forbes now puts Ludwig’s stake in the renamed Heidelberg Materials at 28%. The family also owns Phoenix, a drug wholesaler with its own pharmacy chain.
The ranking continues: 11–100
Forbes · ranking and methodology
- Estimated net worth: US$15,200,929,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$13,839,392,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$11,892,584,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$11,284,225,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$11,284,225,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$10,712,543,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$10,221,835,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$9,063,114,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$7,782,811,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$7,781,715,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$7,774,499,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$7,465,738,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$7,339,421,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,811,847,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,588,894,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,523,810,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,501,742,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,469,721,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,463,609,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,463,609,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,352,000,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,352,000,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,352,000,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,352,000,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,257,840,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,257,840,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$6,225,319,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$5,969,970,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$5,969,970,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$5,943,993,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$5,632,985,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,753,000,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,684,411,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,663,182,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,502,908,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,500,581,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,486,502,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,321,430,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,300,952,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,162,602,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,133,041,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,073,328,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,063,879,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$4,045,296,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,972,125,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,919,861,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,661,601,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,630,138,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,588,742,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,481,998,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,481,998,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,460,627,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,409,988,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,236,044,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,217,189,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,137,050,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,114,983,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,101,045,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$3,101,045,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,983,395,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,931,928,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,919,149,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,907,549,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,904,762,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,904,762,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,903,600,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,874,564,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,753,775,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,708,643,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,699,187,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,634,676,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,620,209,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,614,402,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,605,993,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,605,993,000.00
- Estimated net worth: US$2,605,993,000.00
There is always a story.
Germany’s list stands out for how many fortunes are tied to businesses still under family control. The estimates are dated 12 September 2026. Where a company is private, they rest more on the source’s judgement than on a share price.