In 2025, Amancio Ortega turned 89, firmly establishing himself as Spain’s most influential retiree. According to the latest Forbes billionaires ranking, he remains the country’s richest man, with a fortune estimated at €109.9 billion. Despite a slight decline in Inditex’s market value this year, his wealth secured him ninth place among the world’s tycoons. It’s hard to imagine that the young man born in 1936 in the humble village of Busdongo de Arbas would one day become one of the most successful entrepreneurs on the planet.
Amancio Ortega, known for his aversion to interviews and public attention, began working at the age of thirteen. His family moved to A Coruña, where his father found work at a railway station and his mother cared for the home. The future billionaire’s first job was at the “Gala” shirt store. There, he did everything—running errands, cleaning windows, and helping at the counter—gaining invaluable experience and learning the fundamentals of commerce. This period instilled in him the foundations of a strong work ethic and an understanding of customer needs.
After working at “Gala” for three years, he moved to the “La Maja” shop, where his brother and sister were already employed. It was there that he met Rosalía Mera, who became his first wife, the mother of his two children, and a key business partner in the early days of their venture. Today, Ortega is married for the second time to Flora Pérez; together they have a daughter, Marta Ortega, who has taken the helm at Inditex and continues her father’s legacy.
The young man’s ambitions didn’t allow him to remain an employee for long. While working at a haberdashery, he began to dream of starting his own business. Together with his brother Antonio, he founded GOA, opening a bank account with a modest sum of 2,500 pesetas. Their first product was a baby bassinet, but real commercial success came with a different item: quilted robes and dressing gowns sewn by his sister-in-law and his wife, Rosalia. These robes quickly became bestsellers thanks to their practicality and affordable price, perfectly matching the fashion trends of the time.
To accommodate the increasing production volume, they needed their own retail outlet. The first attempt, a store called ‘Sprint’ opened in 1971, was unsuccessful, but this setback didn’t deter the entrepreneur. He learned from his mistakes and made a second push into retail. On May 9, 1975, the first Zara store opened its doors on Juan Flores Street in La Coruña. Fittingly, it was located not far from the ‘Gala’ shirt shop where Ortega’s career began. This moment marked the starting point for building a global fashion empire now known around the world.
Incidentally, the company Inditex (Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A.), founded by Amancio Ortega, is one of the world’s largest clothing retailers. Alongside its flagship brand Zara, the corporation’s portfolio also includes such well-known labels as Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, and Zara Home. The company’s success is largely due to its unique “fast fashion” business model, which enables it to quickly respond to new trends and deliver current collections to stores in record time. Ortega himself, even after becoming a multibillionaire, has always maintained an extremely private lifestyle, preferring work in the factories and offices over social events. His core principle has always been to reinvest profits back into the development of the business.
