Amancio Ortega
Amancio Ortega is a Spanish businessman and fashion magnate, best known as the founder of the global retail chain Zara. Born on March 28, 1936, in Busdongo de Arbás, Spain, Ortega faced financial difficulties in his early life, leaving school at age thirteen to work as a tailor. This experience laid the foundation for his later success. In 1963, he launched a business sewing bathrobes with his family, which eventually led to the opening of the first Zara store in 1975.
Under Ortega's leadership, Zara and its parent company, Industria de Diseño Textil (Inditex), grew rapidly, becoming prominent players in the fast fashion industry. Known for its ability to rapidly adapt to fashion trends and maintain a quick supply chain, Zara revolutionized retail with its frequent inventory changes. Ortega stepped down as head of Inditex in 2011, but his financial success continued, with his net worth surpassing $70 billion by 2015. Despite his immense wealth, Ortega is recognized for his modest lifestyle and privacy, often dining with employees and avoiding the spotlight. His impact on fashion retail has been significant, making him a notable figure in both the business world and the fashion industry.
Amancio Ortega
Founder of retailer Zara, business owner
- Born: March 28, 1936
- Birthplace: Place of birth: Busdongo de Arbás, Spain
Significance: Amancio Ortega dropped out of high school when he was just a teenager, but he and his ex-wife, Rosalía Mera, together created the international fashion retailer Zara. He also owns the company Inditex, which is not well known in the public but sells more than $19 billion in products annually and is Zara’s parent company. He is one of the richest people in the world.
Background
Amancio Ortega was born on March 28, 1936, in Busdongo de Arbás, Spain. Ortega’s father was a railroad worker and his mother was a housekeeper. Ortega’s family faced financial hardships, and he left school when he was just thirteen years old to get a job with a tailor. Ortega learned about sewing and clothing design in this job.
In 1963, when Ortega was in his twenties, he, his siblings, and his wife started their own business sewing bathrobes. The company expanded its line of products and hired more outside workers. Ortega hired local women and organized the workers in sewing cooperatives. In 1975, Ortega opened the first Zara store in Spain. After that store became a success, he expanded his company aggressively.
Life’s Work
In the 1980s, the company continued to expand, and it soon spread across Spain into other parts of Europe. In 1989, the company opened its first store in the Americas. As Ortega’s business grew, he opened other brands of stores and created Industria de Diseño Textil (Inditex) as a parent company to his different brands, including Zara. Zara was, and remains, one of Inditex’s best-known and most successful brands.
Zara’s success happened for several reasons. One was Ortega’s insistence on the company’s managing much of its own supply chain. In addition, the clothing company is known for its ability to change styles quickly. Stores are constantly changing the clothing styles they offer, and the looks offered are inspired by current fashion trends. Managers in Zara stores are trained to watch what people are buying, looking at, and wearing so they can help keep the most popular trends in the store. Since the stores constantly have new products and looks, customers can almost always find something new when they visit. This increase in selection causes people to purchase more of the clothing. Another reason that Zara has been successful is that it keeps some of its clothing production in Europe, allowing the retailer to produce clothing and have it in the stores in a very short amount of time. Some styles can reach stores within three weeks, which is an extremely fast turnaround that most other retailers cannot match.
In 2011, Ortega stepped down as the head of Inditex. Even though Ortega is no longer the head of his company, he still makes roughly $400 million per year in dividends. By the time Ortega left his position, Zara had thousands of stores on six continents. From 2008 to 2014, a financial crisis occurred around the world, but Inditex and Ortega weathered the financial storm. In fact, Ortega’s net worth increased $45 billion from 2009 to 2014, and Inditex’s stocks rose in value even though other Spanish stocks tumbled in price during the same period. At the same time, Inditex was one of the most influential companies in the fashion industry. The conglomerate owned roughly 100 different fashion brands, including Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Pull&Bear. As of 2015, Ortega’s wealth exceeded $70 billion. In 2015, he surpassed Warren Buffett to be named the second-richest person on the planet. He even surpassed Bill Gates, the richest person, for a brief time in 2015 when Inditex’s stock rose in value.
Despite Ortega’s massive wealth and success, he became known for his humble lifestyle. When he worked at Inditex, Ortega ate lunch in the company’s cafeteria with the other workers. He also wore simple clothing each day and was not known for wearing items produced by Inditex. Even after retiring, Ortega continued to visit the headquarters of his company. In his free time, he raised chickens on his estate.
Impact
Ortega’s company has been a leader in fast fashion. The fast fashion trend is based on constantly changing styles in stores. Zara stores change their inventory up to two times a week. This trend has made Zara and other fast fashion retailers very profitable. Zara and Inditex have changed the fashion industry in general, and Ortega’s business practices helped shape the future of fashion retail.
Personal Life
Ortega married Rosalía Mera soon after they started the company that would become Zara. The couple separated in the mid-1980s and eventually divorced. Mera held the second-largest number of Inditex’s stocks until she died in 2013. Ortega eventually remarried Flora Pérez Marcote. He had three children—Sandra, Marcos, and Marta—from his two marriages. Sandra became the richest woman in Spain when she inherited 7 percent of Inditex’s stocks after Mera’s death. Although Ortega is one of the richest people in the world, he is a very private person. He guards his personal life and rarely gives interviews to the media.
Bibliography
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Lutz, Ashley and Mallory Schlossberg. "A Retail Guru Most People Have Never Heard of Briefly Surpassed Bill Gates as the World’s Richest Man." Business Insider. Business Insider, 23 Oct. 2015. Web. 5 May 2016.
Marlow, Ben. "The Humble Life of Zara Owner Amancio Ortega Is to Be Admired." Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 6 June 2015. Web. 5 May 2016.
"19. Amancio Ortega." CNBC. CNBC, 2016. Web. 5 May 2016.
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