Who is Dieter Schwarz?
Dieter Schwarz is the German businessman who controls the Schwarz Group, the parent of the supermarket chains Lidl and Kaufland, which Forbes describes as Europe’s largest retail empire. Forbes’ real-time list valued him at $59.31 billion on 20 October 2026, 32nd in the world, and its March list ranked him 29th with $67.2 billion 1.
How did Dieter Schwarz make his money?
By turning a family fruit wholesaler into a discount-retail empire. He joined his father’s fruit wholesale business after school and opened his first Lidl discount store in Ludwigshafen in 1973. When his father, Josef Schwarz, died in 1977 he took over, and he later bought the Lidl name from its co-owner, the former schoolteacher Ludwig Lidl. He ran Lidl and Kaufland as chairman and chief executive from 1977 to 2004 234.
Early life
He was born on 24 September 1939 in Heilbronn, in southwest Germany, and still lives there 125.
Ownership of the Schwarz Group
The group is formally owned through a foundation structure, but Forbes says Schwarz keeps full control. Klaus Gehrig succeeded him as chief executive of the retail businesses in 2004 14. Read Dieter Schwarz’s companies.
Family and giving
He married Franziska Weipert in 1963, and they have two daughters. He is very protective of his privacy. The Dieter Schwarz Stiftung funds education, research and entrepreneurship, mostly in Heilbronn 156.
Dieter Schwarz net worth
Forbes put him at $59.31 billion in October 2026, about ₹5.6 lakh crore at ₹94 to the dollar, after valuing him at $41 billion on its 2025 list 17. See Dieter Schwarz net worth and our ranking of the top 50 richest people in the world.