Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - The Founder of Aldi Got Kidnapped - The Theo Albrecht Story

Episode Date: November 8, 2025

In November 1971, Theo Albrecht, the reclusive German billionaire co-founder of Aldi supermarkets, was kidnapped at gunpoint outside his company’s headquarters in Essen, Germany, by Heinz-Joachim Ollenburg and Paul Krüzen, a pair of small-time criminals seeking a massive ransom. The kidnappers held him for 17 days.

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They're cheering together. This winter, everyone is all on the same team. Comcast, proud partner of Team USA. You know that grocery store, Aldi? You know that one of the original founders was kidnapped and held for ransom? And it all starts with this guy. His name's Heinz.

And Heinz is 47 years old when the story starts and he's living in Germany. And Heinz, he has a big problem, a gambling problem. And he really needs money to pay off his debts. And one day, in 1971, he comes across a book called The Rich and the Super Rich. And this book talks about super rich people.

And mentioned in this book about super rich people, is this guy, Theo. Now Theo and his brother are the founders of a very well-known supermarket chain called Aldi. And as such, they are two of the richest people in the world during this time. And so Heinz, he's reading this book and he's like, damn, that guy's rich.

I wish I could be rich like that. So he starts thinking, maybe there is a way that I could be rich like that. And that is when he gets an idea, an idea that's going to make him a bunch of money fast so that he'll be able to pay off his gambling debt. He decides he wants to find this Theo guy and kidnap him and hold him for ransom. But it's a big job, so he's going to need help.

So he ends up calling up a buddy of his, a known burglar and safecracker named Diamond Paul. And together, the two of them come up with a plan to get a pistol, kidnap Theo, and then hold him hostage until he or someone pays his rights. ransom. Now, Heinz and Diamond Paul, they don't really plan this kidnapping out all that well. Like, they ain't got time for all that. Instead, they just kind of show up outside Theo's company headquarters. And there, they wait for him to show up to work so that they can grab him. Now, because these guys didn't really do all that much research, they're on the lookout for a wealthy looking executive, someone probably wearing a tailored suit or like designer shoes. But Theo isn't that guy. He

He's not really like that. He's super rich, but he's also super thrifty. So when Theo finally shows up to the building, he's wearing a cheap-ass suit that's like kind of too big for him. And Heinz and Diamond Paul, they barely recognize him. But whatever. They approach Theo with a pistol, and they're like, are you Theo? And I assume Theo's scared.

And he's like, yeah. But they don't believe that he's really him because, you know, he doesn't look rich. So instead of just taking his word for it, they're like, prove it. So poor Theo has to like bust out his ID and he's like, yes, it's really me. So now the kidnapping can finally start. So Heinz and Diamond Paul, they walk him to a car and they throw him inside. Then they drive him from where the headquarters is in Hurtin, all the way over to an office where Heinz works in Dyselherth. Once they get there, they make Theo strip down to his underwear and they blindfold him

and they hide him in the back room of this office in a free. freestanding wardrobe. Now, during all this, Heinz, he's trying to be nice about this whole kidnapping thing, so he spends a lot of time talking to Theo, trying to keep him calm and reassure him that it's going to be all right. Oh, but not Diamond Paul. Diamond Paul's a dick. He hates that Heinz is doing this. In fact, Diamond Paul thinks it's so weird that Heinz is being nice to Theo, that he accuses him of being gay. I guess he, like, thinks Heinz might have a crush on him or something. But anyway, eventually, these two goons start arguing amongst themselves about how much money they should ask for for the ransom. Now remember, Heinz has all this gambling debt he needs to pay off.

So he comes right out of the gate and he says he's going to ask for a bunch of money. He's like, the ransom should be around 100 million Deutsch marks, which is around 30 million US dollars in 1971. But Diamond Paul, he's like, what? You're crazy. No one's going to pay that much money for a dusty old man. Now, here's where the whole thing just gets ridiculous. I guess these two can't decide between themselves what the ransom should be. So they go and they just straight up ask Theo. They're like, you're one of the richest guys in the world.

How much ransom are you willing to pay for yourself? Now, as I said, Theo is notoriously thrifty. That's why he's such a good businessman. He knows how to cut costs and save money. So Theo, using his slick business negotiating skills, he talks Heinz from 100 million Deutschmarks all the way down to 7 million Deutschmarks. So in US dollars in 1971, it's like he talked him from 30 million US dollars all the way down to 2 million US dollars.

But see, to Heinz and Diamond Paul, 7 million Deutschmarks is a ton of money. In fact, it's the largest ransom ever demanded for anyone in Germany up in that point. So the two guys are like, we'll take it. And so one of the men calls up Theo's wife. And they're like, we have Theo. Pay us seven million Deutsch marks if you ever want to see him again. And Theo's family agrees. But they also immediately go to the police. So now the police are involved. And you know, they don't want Theo to get hurt. They want to make sure this handoff goes smoothly. Now Heinz and Diamond Paul, they're not about to just hand this money off to the police. They'll just get arrested right away.

So they demand that they get a neutral party to act as an intermediary. And they agree it should be this local Catholic bishop for some reason. So now this poor Catholic bishop is dragged into all this and he's going to be the one handing over this cash. So Heinz and Diamond Paul, they're on the phone with this bishop and they tell him to leave the suitcase full of cash on the roadside along a specific highway. Obviously, they don't want any cops there, but strangely, police agree to let them get the money, and they even say that they're going to give them a 24-hour head start before they start looking for them, as long as they let Theo go safely. So the bishop does as he's instructed, and he goes out all by himself with millions stuffed in a suitcase,

and he leaves it on the roadside. Then, Heinz and Diamond Paul roll up, they grab the cash, and they leave, and they completely disappear. Not only that, but they keep their word and they let Theo go. So finally, after 17 days of being blindfolded and in his underwear, the co-founder and owner of the most popular grocery store chain in that country is free and he gets to go back to his family. Now, the police said that they would give these two guys a 24-hour head start.

But it doesn't really seem like. they do. They hold press conferences and they have recordings of the kidnappers' phone calls and they play these recordings for the public saying if you recognize the man's voice on this tape, contact us and let us know. And tips from the public start pouring in. But that's not what actually brings Heinz and Diamond Paul down. Because here's the thing. The 7 million Deutsche marks that the police gave them were marked bills. And it doesn't take long before Diamond Paul starts spending some of that ransom money. And after about two years in 1973, they're able to trace those marked bills back to him. And so, bam, police arrest him. And I don't

have a mugshot, but here is a press photo that was released of him. Now, Heinz, on the other hand, he actually flees the country and he flies from Germany all the way over to Mexico. But it's no use. Police, they end up finding him there and so bam, they arrest him too. Here is a picture of him in real life. And both men go to trial and they're found guilty and Heinz is

sentenced to eight years in prison while Diamond Paul is also sentenced to eight years in prison. And they were actually able to recover some of the ransom money but apparently half of it was never recovered. Like half of that 7 million Deutsche Marks

is still out there somewhere. You could I mean, you can go look for. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel,

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