title: Wilhelm Schmidt-Ruthenbeck
text: # Wilhelm Schmidt-Ruthenbeck
  
  Wilhelm Schmidt-Ruthenbeck (1906–1988) was a German entrepreneur, the co-founder of the retail chain Metro AG.
  
  ## Biography
  
  In 1963, Schmidt-Ruthenbeck founded, together with his brother Ernst Schmidt, the German company Metro AG.
  
  ## Family
  
  Schmidt-Ruthenbeck was married with Vera Ruthenbeck. His children were Michael Schmidt-Ruthenbeck, Rainer Schmidt-Ruthenbeck, and Viola Schmidt-Ruthenbeck.
  
  His father was Karl Schmidt, who founded in 1923 in Duisburg the company Karl Schmidt OGH. In the 1990s his family founded the Stiftung Mercator, the Mercator Schweiz and the Karl Schmidt Family Foundation.
  
  