Zara Founder Amancio Ortega Ranksโค as World’s 9th Richest, Expanding Beyondโข Fashion
Madrid, Spain – Amancio โคOrtega, the founder of global fashionโ giant Inditex – parent company to โbrands โคincluding Zara, Pull & Bear, โฃMassimoโฃ Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, and Lefties – has been named theโ 9th wealthiest person in โคthe world by Forbes โmagazine. Hisโข fortune is currently โขestimated at โฌ106.7 โbillion.
Born in 1936 near the outbreak of the Spanish Civil war,Ortega left school to โฃsupport his family and entered the fashion industry in 1963โฃ with the opening of GOA,a small shop producing dresses. In โ1975, alongside his then-wife, Rosalรญa Mera, he launched Zara, opening the first store in A Coruรฑa, Spain. This marked a shift from production to retail for the entrepreneur.
The Inditex group was formally created in 1985, and โขrapidly expanded internationally, โdebuting in Porto, โPortugal in 1988 before reaching New York and Paris in theโ lateโฃ 1980s.Throughout the 1990s,Pull & Bear,Massimo โDutti,Bershka,and โStradivarius were integrated into โthe Inditex portfolio. The company โwent public and listed on the Spanish stockโค exchange between 2000 and 2001,โ together launching the โOyshoโฃ brand.
Today, Inditexโฃ operates over โ6,800 stores across 96 โฃcountries. the groupโ reported a record net income of โฌ1.305 โขmillion โขand โฌ8.274 billion in sales for the first โฃfiscal quarter of the currentโ year, representing a 1.5% sales increase.
Ortega stepped downโค as president of โInditex’s Board of Directors in 2011, but retains approximately 60% ownership of the company.
Beyond retail, Ortega’s investment firm, Pontegadea, manages a substantial realโ estate portfolio valued atโ approximately โฌ15 โคbillion. Recentโฃ acquisitions include โa 49% stake in British port operatorโฃ PD Ports,which manages 11 UK ports including Teesport,and properties leased โคto major technology companies like Amazon and Facebook. Pontegadea also holds a 12% โstake in Portuguese energy company โREN, 10%โ of Spanish telecommunications firm โTelxius, and 5% โฃof Spanish gas operator Enagรกs.
