Amancio Ortega

Amancio Ortega, whose full name is Amancio Ortega Gaona, is a Spanish fashion businessman and the founder and chairman (1985) of the Spanish apparel merchandiser Inditex (Industria de Diseo Textil, SA), which includes the Zara chain shop. In 1975, Amancio Ortega opened the first Zara ready-to-wear apparel store in A Corua, and it quickly became not just a globally recognized brand but also the flagship of the holding company Inditex, which he formed ten years later. In addition to Zara, he was the primary owner of the holding firm in 2008, which included the labels Stradivarius, Pull and Bear, Uterqüe, Massimo Dutti, and Oysho.

Inditex developed rapidly under his leadership in the years thereafter, and now controls a number of big brands. Inditex has around 4,000 outlets in 70 countries as of 2008, making it the world's largest fashion retailer. As of 2019, Inditex is the world's most profitable apparel retailer. Unlike most other billionaires born into wealthy families, his family often encounters poverty, but that is not the reason he accepts his fate. Amancio Ortega had to drop out of school at the age of 13 to work as a seamstress to help support his family, and now he is on the list of the richest people in Europe.

Net worth: $59 billion

Country: Spain