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The decision is not yet final, but complaints can be filed against it: a good three years after his disappearance in the Swiss Alps, the Cologne district court has declared billionaire Karl-Erivan Haub dead.
The court announced on Friday that the time of death was determined to be April 7, 2018.
On that day, the then 58-year-old should have returned from a ski tour on the Kleiner Matterhorn.
The billionaire's fate had sparked a tough family dispute over the trading empire that was only settled a few weeks ago.
After much hesitation, his wife Katrin Haub agreed to have her missing husband declared dead.
"The facts necessary to justify the declaration of death have been considered proven on the basis of the investigations carried out and the documents submitted," said the court's decision published on Friday.
First, the brothers made an application
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The co-owner of the Tengelmann retail group went skiing in Zermatt on April 7, 2018 and never returned.
The application to declare Karl-Erivan Haub dead was first made by his brothers and the family businesses.
In addition to the DIY chain OBI and the cheap textile retailer KiK, Tengelmann also owns numerous start-up investments.
Karl-Erivan's brother Christian took over sole management of the company after his alleged death.
It was not until the end of April that Katrin Haub and her two children agreed to sell their stake of almost a third in Tengelmann Warenhandels-KG to Christian Haub - apparently for a billion euros.
Tengelmann claims to have around 90,000 employees and a turnover of 8.1 billion euros.