By the phrase “World’s richest man” the first man that comes to anyone’s mind is Bill Gates but the founder of Microsoft is no longer the world’s wealthiest man as fashion brand “Zara” founder has dethroned him to clinch the top position.
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For Ortega, the only stock that really matters is Inditex, the parent company to Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear and other brands.
Amancio Ortega’s personal fortune leapt by $1.7 billion this week to $79.5 billion – taking the Inditex owner past the Microsoft co-founder’s estimated $78.5 billion.
Ortega debuted on Forbes Billionaire List in 2001 with a net worth of $6.6 billion when his business went public. Bill Gates’ own fortune has been going up and down recently, having reached over billion last month – the biggest it’s ever been.
Marta, 31, began training for a role in the business at a young age, starting out stacking shelves.
Affordable catwalk imitations can move from drawing-board to stores within two weeks, and poor sellers are removed from the shop floor even quicker.
The first Zara opened in Spain in 1975 and is now a fixture on high streets around the world.
Meanwhile, Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee was the only Korean entrepreneur listed among the top 100 richest. However, he was put back in the second place soon after a surge in Microsoft’s shares.
He holds a 59.3 percent stake in what is now the world’s biggest fashion retailer, ahead of Gap and Hennes & Mauritz.
Eight years later, Ortega had expanded to nine locations around Spain.
Ortega never gives interviews and is rarely photographed.
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According to Reuters, Ortega consolidated most of his private interests into holding company Pontegadea Inversiones last December, with him at its helm and his wife Flora Perez and a close business partner listed as his vice-chairmen.
