Zara's mysterious founder, Amancio Ortega, was the world's richest man, bypassing Bill Gates Friday morning, Forbes reported. His net worth peaked to $80 billion when Zara's parent company Inditex's stock peaked.
But when the stock went back down, Ortega went back to being the world's second-richest man, a title he attained in June. That's no small feat: He's richer than Warren Buffet.
But despite his impressive net worth, many people have never heard of him.
The 79-year-old Spaniard fiercely guards his privacy and gives few interviews to the press.
Ortega founded fast-fashion giant Zara with his then-wife Rosalia in 1975. Today, his retail company Inditex SA — which owns Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Pull&Bear — has over 6,600 outposts around the world. Zara in and of itself is changing retail forever.
According to Bloomberg, Ortega's net worth is a whopping $71.5 billion as of June 2. The only person left for him to beat in this financial category? Gates, who has a net worth of $85.5 billion.
But Bloomberg's data notes that since last year, Gates' net worth has decreased by $1.1 billion, while Ortega's has increased by an impressive $10.4 billion.
Amancio Ortega is the second-richest man in the world, with a net worth estimated at $71.5 billion.
Source: Bloomberg
This is his second wife, Flora. The couple has been married since 2001.
Source: Bloomberg
In August 2013, his ex-wife and Zara cofounder, Rosalia Mera, died at 69. She was Spain's richest woman.
Source: Associated Press
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