Stolte estimates there are 100 to 300 gGmbHs in Germany. Four of the country’s 10 richest people hold at least part of their fortunes through the structure: Schwarz and the three co-founders of Walldorf, Germany-based SAP AG, the world’s largest maker of business-management software.
Schwarz transferred his shares in Lidl and Kaufland into the Dieter Schwarz Stiftung in 1999, “to secure the existence of the company,” said Gertrud Bott, a company spokeswoman, in an e-mail. Schwarz no longer owns the shares, the gGmbH does, she said. He is credited with the fortune because he controls the shares owned by the gGmbH, according to the ranking. He declined to comment for this account.