Change of Ownership at Marienplatz: Billionaire Secures Majority in Ludwig Beck Department Store
Munich, June 2, 2026 – Real estate entrepreneur and billionaire Alfons Doblinger is set to take control of Munich’s Ludwig Beck department store, located at Rathauseck. The publicly listed company announced a major share sale to Doblinger one day after its general meeting. Following approval from the cartel authorities, the 82-year-old will hold approximately 77 percent of the share capital and voting rights.
The sellers of the combined 51 percent stake are Nuremberg entrepreneur Hans Rudolf Wöhrl (78) through his Intro-Verwaltungs GmbH, and his son Christian Greiner (47), who has been Beck’s CEO since 2010.
End of an Era for Wöhrl-Greiner
This transaction marks the end of the Wöhrl-Greiner shareholder era at Beck. Meanwhile, the reclusive Munich real estate entrepreneur Doblinger, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes magazine at two billion dollars, is expanding his influence over the department store, which boasts a valuable property in the city center. Doblinger first invested in Beck in late 2020, holding a 25 percent stake until now.
Details regarding the purchase price Doblinger paid to Wöhrl and Greiner, or potential changes at the department store’s management, were not immediately available. For some time, there have been indications of a power struggle at Beck over the future corporate structure. For instance, at the 2025 general meeting, the management board was not discharged with nearly 60 percent ‘no’ votes, suggesting Doblinger’s involvement. In contrast, at the most recent general meeting in 2026, the board was discharged with well over 80 percent of the votes.
Motions Rejected Amidst Shareholder Activism
Conversely, motions for the appointment of a special auditor or a spin-off of the operational activities of the ‘Kaufhaus der Sinne’ (Department Store of the Senses) were rejected. These motions were put forward by Karl-Walter Freitag (71), often described as a ‘HV-Schreck’ (AGM terror) and shareholder activist, who has initiated numerous legal challenges against public limited companies.
Already at the 2025 general meeting, Freitag heavily criticized Beck’s management under Greiner’s leadership. His core accusation was that the valuable property was being burdened by the deficit-ridden operational business of the textile department store, which employs around 400 people. For the 2025 financial year, Ludwig Beck reported a minimally increased gross turnover of 88 million euros and a slight profit after tax, following a loss of 2.9 million euros in 2024. No dividend will be paid again.
Real Estate Value at the Forefront
Industry insiders suspect that Doblinger is primarily interested in the department store’s approximately 2,000 square meter plot in a central location. Its market value is estimated at several hundred million euros. According to media reports, Doblinger has also owned large parts of the approximately 3,200 square meter area of Galeria Kaufhof at Marienplatz for years.
The self-made entrepreneur Doblinger gained national recognition in 1990 through the spectacular purchase of Neue Heimat Bayern, including over 30,000 social housing units, for almost one billion D-Mark. The farmer’s son from the Bavarian Forest is the founder, CEO, and owner of Dibag Industriebau AG in Munich, employing around 600 people. Doblinger is also a major shareholder in the world’s leading specialist civil engineering company Bauer AG in Schrobenhausen, where Alfons Doblinger and his wife Sabine sit on the supervisory board.
