Amancio Ortega is following in the footsteps of the 'conquistadors' as he conquers the US property market. Bloomberg reported that his investment vehicle, through Zara parent company Inditex SA, recently completed a $72.5 million deal for a hotel located in downtown Chicago. This was only one of such completed purchases within the past six months.
Ortega's company now has a property in the Washington central business district as well as Seattle. Its Seattle offices had been leased out to Amazon, Inc. for a total of $1.1 billion. Ortega's US property market buying spree has created him a "property empire" valued more than $13 billion, as tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires' Index.
This also puts Ortega with the biggest real estate portfolio among the elite of Europe. It's all good business sense; Ortega followed what everyone else was doing, diversifying from his fashion fortune empire in order to create more wealth and solidify his assets. The Spaniard has been investing in the US real estate market to the tune of $3 billion over more than six years.
Perhaps, being so rich isn't easy, after all. The Zara founder is currently under attack as Podemos is criticizing his $350 million donations to the public health system. Podemos' position is simple; since the public health system is privately owned, it should only accept funds from taxpayers, and not from global moguls like Amancio Ortega, El Pais reported.
Ortega is fulfilling a promise he made back in 2017 that he will donate the said amount of money through the Amancio Ortega Foundation. This is to help hospitals across Spain buy new equipment to help in the treatment and diagnosis of cancer patients. However, Isa Serra, Podemos' candidate in the Madrid regional elections, said that this wasn't right.
Serra said that Ortega's company, Inditex, was guilty of not paying taxes, which could very well be used to fund the public health system. However, proof or existence of Inditex' non-payment of taxes has yet to resurface. With the elections forthcoming, the non-payment issue has become a topic of hot debate among the candidates running in the election, Serra included.
One problem doesn't lead to another, however. Ortega has managed to maintain a low profile; according to reports, the fashion mogul preferred to work "in the main design area, alongside employees" rather than maintain his own private office.
