In this article, I present Amancio Ortegaa famous businessman, known for having created the Zara brand!
Here you'll find
- Amancio Ortega's story and figures
- The brands of its Inditex group
- Its various activities
- And much more!
If you're looking for information about Amancio Ortega, you'll love this article.
Follow the guide!
Amancio Ortega: article summary
Who is Amancio Ortega?
In 2015, Amancio Ortega Gaona topped the annual Forbes ranking of the world's wealthiest individuals. In 2023, he will be in 13th place.e with an estimated fortune of $83 billion!
Where does this Spanish entrepreneur come from? How did he found its empire ? What are the reasons for its success? I decipher it all for you!
The beginnings of an impressive success story
Amancio Ortega was born on March 28, 1936 in Busdongo de Arbas, a tiny village in the northern Spanish province of León. Today, the village has just 44 inhabitants!
He grew up in Tolosa, after his father transferred to Renfe as local station manager. Then began working from age 14 in a textile company in La Coruña, which was his first step into the world that was to make him rich.
In 1963, he created Confecciones GOA, S.A.a company specializing in bathrobes, which experienced marked growth over the following decade. The company's credo was not only to sell, but also to control the production and distribution of its products.
The keys to success are already there, and his powers of observation and perfectionism make Amancio Ortega a true visionary. But the turning point in his business came in 1975, when he opened the first boutique of a brand we all know : Zara.
A flourishing business
The first Zara opens in La Coruña in 1975 and offered classic fashion items at low prices. Soon, stores were opening all over Spain, and Amancio Ortega decided to change the traditional methods of design and sales, to reduce reaction time necessary to adapt to the latest trends.
This led to the creation of what is now known as the Fast Fashion. He's able to put together a collection in as little as a week, when it used to take 3 months, revolutionizing mainstream fashion.
In 1985, following the significant expansion of his business, Amancio Ortega created the Inditex consortiumto internationalize the business. Zara's first foreign store opened in 1988 in Porto (Portugal) before his conquest of the world began.
In 1989, the group took on the United States, to France in 1990before expanding worldwide between 1992 and 2016. According to 2021 figures, there will be 1939 Zara stores in 215 countries! Zara is considered the most profitable Spanish brand in the world.
Facts and figures about Amancio Ortega
- In 2015 and 2016, Amancio Ortega overtook Bill Gates in the ranking of the world's wealthiest individuals
- It owns 60 % of the Inditex group
- His group now has more than 5,500 stores in the world
- He retires in 2011, but remains Zara's majority shareholder
- It offers retirement at age 55 employees with more than 25 years' seniority!
- Amancio Ortega doesn't like to be in the spotlight, so he shops incognito and visits his restaurants favorites
What are the best-known brands in the Inditex empire?
While Zara is spearheaded by Amancio Ortega, the Inditex group is made up entirely of 8 famous brands. Here are the other 7, which you'll probably come across regularly in shopping malls:
- Pull&Bear
- Massimo Dutti
- Bershka
- Stradivarius
- Oysho
- Zara Home
- Tempe
If you want to take advantage of your stay in Barcelona to do a little shoppingyou'll come across his brands, both in the Barcelona city center than in the largest shopping centers of the Catalan capital.
And its other investments?
Fort de his billionaire statusAmancio Ortega has obviously made judicious investments to diversify his business. He owns :
- 30 % of shares in the Spanish telecommunications company Telxius
- 5 % shares in Spanish gas company Enagas
- 5 % of shares in the Spanish electricity company Red Electrica
- 12 % of shares in Redes Energéticas NacionaisPortugal's electricity distribution company
He also owns a real estate investment company called Pontegadea. In 2022 alone, the company saw its revenues grow by 30.2 % !
What about Amancio Ortega's private life?
Amancio Ortega has been married twice: to his first wife, Rosalía Mera (who died in 2013 at the age of 69) was the co-founder of Zara. For many years, she was the richest woman in Spain. Together, they had two children: Sandra and Marcos.
He remarried in 2001 to Flora Pereza former Zara employee, with whom he will have a second daughter named Marta Ortega Pérez.
It was the latter who took the reins of the Inditex company in 2022accompanied in this onerous task by Oscar Garciawho supports him as General Secretary and Secretary to the Board of Directors.
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