Amancio Ortega: The Mastermind Behind Zara
At the onset of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Amancio Ortega Gaona was born in a small community in northern Spain. In 1949, his family relocated to Galicia. His mother was a maid, and his father was a travelling railroad worker. Ortega’s drive to achieve stemmed from a painful childhood experience he had of seeing his mother turned down for financing to buy groceries. He started learning the art of making clothes at the age of 13 by helping a posh shirtmaker in La Coruña. Ortega’s future success was predicated on the vast management and purchasing experience he accumulated during the next fourteen years.
The Fundamentals of Quick Fashion
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Ortega developed the fundamental ideas of what would be referred to as fast fashion by the early 1960s. Rather than adhering to conventional retail procedures, he concentrated on swiftly manufacturing reasonably priced renditions of well-liked designs according to client inclinations. In their house, Ortega, his future wife Rosalia Mera, and his siblings established a studio where they sewed lingerie and quilted bathrobes for low-cost retail sales. This strategy of putting speed and consumer preference first formed the cornerstone of Ortega’s subsequent empire, Inditex.
The First Zara Store: Transitioning from Manufacturing to Retail (1975)
Confecciones GOA was the name of Ortega and Mera’s first business, founded in 1963. In just ten years, GOA employed 500 people, all because of Ortega’s creative strategy of cutting out intermediaries and managing the supply chain. When the first Zara outlet was started in La Coruña in 1975, it signalled a major change to selling directly to people. The store expanded quickly as a result of its rapid success. Inditex, the parent company of Zara, was established in 1985. The first Zara store outside of the United States was inaugurated in Portugal in 1988, and additional major cities such as New York and Paris followed.
IPO (2001) on the Madrid Stock Exchange
With a €9 billion value, Ortega’s 2001 decision to put Inditex public made it one of the year’s greatest initial public offerings. Ortega became the richest man in Spain after selling more than 20% of his holdings.
Investment Division for Real Estate: Pontegadea Inmobiliaria
Following Inditex’s IPO, Ortega concentrated on the real estate market with Pontegadea Inmobiliaria, building up a portfolio estimated to be worth €15.2 billion by 2020. Among European billionaires, he possesses some of the most significant real estate interests, including the Haughwout Complex in Manhattan and the Torre Picasso in Madrid.
Also Read: The Entrepreneurial Saga of Jim Walton
The Legacy and Net Worth of Ortega
Even with his enormous money and power, Ortega maintains a strictly private life. With a $91.5 billion net worth as of April 2024, he ranked 15th in the world’s richest people. He has contributed millions of dollars to social welfare and education via the Amancio Ortega Foundation, including large sums to international organizations and public hospitals in Spain.
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