Amancio Ortega
Spanish business tycoon
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Key Takeaways
- Amancio Ortega Gaona OMC ( Spanish pronunciation: [aˈmanθjo oɾˈteɣa ɣaˈona] ; born 28 March 1936) is a Spanish billionaire businessman.
- He is considered a pioneer in fast fashion.
- For a brief period of time in 2015, he was the richest man in the world, surpassing Bill Gates when his net worth peaked at $80 billion as Zara's parent company, Inditex's, stock peaked.
- Early life The youngest of four children, Ortega was born in Busdongo de Arbas, León, Spain, to Antonio Ortega Rodríguez and Josefa Gaona Hernández from the province of Valladolid, and spent his childhood in Tolosa, Gipuzkoa.
- Shortly after, he found a job as a shop hand for a local shirtmaker called Gala, which still sits on the same corner in downtown A Coruña, and learned to make clothes by hand.
Amancio Ortega Gaona OMC (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈmanθjo oɾˈteɣa ɣaˈona]; born 28 March 1936) is a Spanish billionaire businessman. He is the founder and former chairman of Inditex fashion group, best known for its chains of Zara and Bershka clothing and accessories shops. He is considered a pioneer in fast fashion. As of 2026, Ortega had a net worth of US$147 billion, making him the second-wealthiest person in Europe after Bernard Arnault and the 10th-wealthiest in the world. For a brief period of time in 2015, he was the richest man in the world, surpassing Bill Gates when his net worth peaked at $80 billion as Zara's parent company, Inditex's, stock peaked.
He is the head of the Ortega family, and the second wealthiest retailer in the world.
Early life
The youngest of four children, Ortega was born in Busdongo de Arbas, León, Spain, to Antonio Ortega Rodríguez and Josefa Gaona Hernández from the province of Valladolid, and spent his childhood in Tolosa, Gipuzkoa.
Ortega left school and moved to A Coruña at the age of 14, due to his father’s job as a railway worker. Shortly after, he found a job as a shop hand for a local shirtmaker called Gala, which still sits on the same corner in downtown A Coruña, and learned to make clothes by hand.
Career
In 1963, he founded Confecciones Goa to sell quilted bathrobes.
In 1975, he opened his first Zara store with his wife Rosalía Mera.
In 2009, Zara was part of the Inditex group (Industrias de Diseño Textil Sociedad Anónima), of which Ortega owned 59.29%, and aside from over 6,000 stores included the brands Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Kiddy's Class, Tempe, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear, Bershka and has more than 92,000 employees.
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