Amancio Ortega Gaona was born in Busdongo, León, on March 28, 1936. He is a Spanish businessman devoted entirely to the textile industry. Alongside his former wife Rosalía Mera and the former president of the Inditex textile group, Pablo Isla, he founded the world-renowned clothing chain Zara.
He is the son of Antonio Ortega Rodríguez and Josefina Gaona Hernández. His father worked as a railwayman in the province of León. Though born in 1936, Ortega moved to Tolosa when he was just three months old due to his father’s appointment as station chief. He lived in the Basque town until the age of 12, although some official biographies suggest only until age 8. He studied at the French school Sagrado Corazón with his older brother Antonio. Ortega had two children with his first wife, Rosalía Mera. He married for a second time in 2001 to Flora Pérez Marcote, mother of his youngest daughter.
Amancio Ortega has three children and four grandchildren.
Amancio Ortega has four grandchildren and three children.
His career in the textile world began at the age of 14 in A Coruña, where he worked for two well-known clothing companies. After a period working in Santiago de Compostela, he created the company Confecciones GOA, S.A. in 1963.
In 1975, he opened the first Zara store on a central street in A Coruña, Juan Flórez Street, where he sold clothing for men, women, and children. That same year, he established his company as the official owner of Zara, and the stores began spreading across Spain.
In 1988, his store in Porto marked the beginning of his large-scale international expansion, which grew throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East in the early 1990s.
His brand would go on to include names such as Bershka, Oysho, and Pull & Bear. In 2001, he took Inditex public, which is now recognized as the leading textile group worldwide.
In 2011, Ortega announced his departure from the presidency of the group via a letter addressed to his employees.
According to Forbes, on October 23, 2015, Amancio Ortega briefly became the richest man in the world thanks to a historic peak in his company’s market value. A similar event occurred again in 2016 when he briefly held the title of the world’s richest man.
In 2017, Ortega’s fortune was estimated at $66 billion. For many years, he has been considered one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.
Currently, he remains the largest shareholder of Inditex, holding 60% of its shares.
Amancio Ortega is also known for his philanthropy. In 2001, he established the Amancio Ortega Foundation, a private non-profit institution dedicated mainly to education and social assistance.
On his 81st birthday, he announced his largest donation: $320 million to support public healthcare in the fight against cancer.