Amancio Ortega, the founder of Zara, has been identified as one of the top ten billionaires whose fortunes have significantly increased in 2023. According to the Forbes list of billionaires with the most significant wealth growth in 2023, Ortega ranked sixth, with his net worth jumping from $64.2 billion at the beginning of the year to $97.4 billion by December 15, approximately 767.1 billion yuan. As of December 26, Ortega's wealth stood at $99.5 billion, positioning him as the 13th richest globally and maintaining his status as the wealthiest in Spain.
Ortega's wealth increase in 2023 is primarily attributed to a significant surge in the stock price of Inditex, Zara's parent company. By the close of the market before the Christmas holiday on December 22, Inditex's stock had risen 52.54% since the start of the year to 39.05 euros, valuing the company at 122.1 billion euros, about 961.7 billion yuan. In the preceding week, Inditex's stock price even peaked at 39.28 euros, marking the highest record since the company went public.
Ortega indirectly owns 59.29% of Inditex through his companies, Pontegadea and Partler. For the fiscal year 2022, Inditex paid a total dividend of 2.895 billion euros, of which Ortega received approximately 1.72 billion euros based on his shareholding. Additionally, Ortega, serving as a director of Inditex, also earns an annual salary of 100,000 euros.
Ortega, a self-made billionaire, was born in 1936 into a working-class family in Spain. He left school at 14 to work in a clothing shop and continued his career in the textile industry. At 39, he founded Zara in 1975, evolving it from a single store into a global fashion empire.
In 2011, Ortega stepped down as the chairman of the Inditex group and officially retired in 2017, relinquishing his positions in 53 subsidiary companies. Since then, through his family investment company Pontegadea, Ortega has actively pursued investments, mainly in real estate, and has also ventured into the energy sector.
In real estate, Ortega is keen on acquiring commercial properties like office buildings and hotels across Europe and the United States, recently shifting towards logistics and residential properties. In 2023 alone, Ortega purchased an office building in central London for 82 million pounds and three warehouses in the Netherlands, Southern California, and Florida for $116 million, $109 million, and $113 million, respectively.
Pontegadea's real estate assets increased by 2.8 billion euros in 2022, reaching a market value of 18.1 billion euros (about 142.6 billion yuan), making it the largest real estate company in Spain.
In the energy sector, Reuters reported in November that Ortega acquired a 49% stake in a portfolio of Spanish wind and photovoltaic power plants. He already holds shares in Spanish submarine cable suppliers, natural gas, and electricity grid operators.
Despite his diverse investments, Ortega's fortune is primarily determined by Inditex's market value. Given the strong performance and growth of Inditex, his wealth is likely to continue to rise.
Since Ortega's younger daughter Marta Ortega assumed the chairmanship of Inditex in April 2022, the company has focused on enhancing its fashion appeal, introducing premium product lines, raising prices, and improving store image while significantly closing stores to improve operational efficiency.
Reflected in the financial reports, in 2022, Inditex's sales revenue and net profit reached record highs of 32.569 billion euros and 4.13 billion euros, respectively.
The fiscal year 2023 continued this growth trend. In the nine months leading up to October 31, Inditex's sales revenue increased by 11.1% to 25.609 billion euros (about 198.3 billion yuan), and net profit grew by 32.5% to 4.102 billion euros (about 318 billion yuan), achieving a net profit margin of 16%, a rate not exceeded since the fiscal year 2014.
