BERLIN — Authorities in Switzerland and Italy are searching for a German billionaire who has been missing in the Alps since the weekend.

Karl-Erivan Haub, heir to the Tengelmann retail empire, failed to return from a ski excursion Saturday near Switzerland’s famous Matterhorn peak on the border with Italy.

A spokeswoman for Tengelmann, Sieglinde Schuchardt, said Wednesday that there was no news yet on the fate of the 58-year-old.

Haub — who was born in Tacoma, Washington — and his brother Christian have led the company since 2000.

Tengelmann’s main businesses are the hardware store Obi and clothing retailer KiK. It also has large stakes in the Netto supermarket chain and online retailer Zalando.