Amancio Ortega - Zara "boss" started in 40 to become the richest retailer on the planet

Famous as a tycoon in the popular fashion industry with the Zara brand, few people know that his starting point is very low. He went from being just a poor tailor in a clothing factory in Spain. Even this billionaire has not completed high school because he is too poor.

However, with his unremitting efforts, he has achieved the success he is today. In 2011, he decided to retire, not participating in the management of the group, but still on the board of Inditex. In addition to business, he is also very involved in charity activities to help the community.

This man once overthrew Bill Gates as the richest man in the world in 2015. Despite his huge fortune and currently ranked 6th on the list of the richest people in the world, Amancio Ortega seems to be a billionaire. rich are less "famous" than other names.

The arduous journey of starting a business

Unlike most other European billionaires who got rich from their family fortune, Amancio Ortega had a difficult childhood. Born into a family of railway workers in La Corua - Spain, Amancio Ortega made his fortune from nothing.

Due to difficult family circumstances, at the age of 13, Amancio had to quit school to work at a textile and grocery store to help support his family. He works odd jobs at La Maja store in the port city of Coruma.

Although the work is hard and not very glorious, he still feels satisfied when he can work to earn money to support the family. The biggest concern for him at that time was the garment work he was doing. Thanks to his clever and intelligent nature, he has learned a lot of basic knowledge of the profession, and at the same time is aware of self-employment.

When he was a teenager, Amancio worked as a delivery man and assistant for a men's shirt shop. From this job, he learned about the clothing business and quickly became a store manager specializing in serving wealthy customers.

In early 1970, thanks to the help and effective support of her sister-in-law and first wife, Rosalia Mera.

Amancio opened a small private sewing workshop, taking orders and producing ready-to-wear clothes. His family designed products together, sewed clothes and sold their own products.

In 1972, he applied a new but effective business method to the cotton shirt and towel manufacturing business he founded. His business approach is to expand the customer base by using cheaper materials and efficient production systems to create competitive prices.

Great success with Zara brand

In 1975, he and his wife decided to open a store called Zara, then Mr. Amancio Ortega was almost 40 years old. By 1976, he and his wife had bought a computer to keep track of their business. The application of this innovative management has been applied by Mr. Amancio Ortega to the fast-turning business model of the Zara chain of stores. Zara quickly launches fashion products within 10 days of having a design.

Less than 10 years later, businessman Amancio Ortega has expanded Zara to 9 branches across Spain.

According to CNBC, the wealth started when Amancio Ortega founded Inditex SA, a retailer that owns many famous brands, including Zara, Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear.

At one point, within just one day, Amancio Ortega's net worth increased by $2.3 billion (equivalent to about VND 50,000 billion) after the shares of the world's largest clothing retailer, Bloomberg reported. Inditex market increased by 3.9%.

The secret of success

Unlike most other retailers, Mr. Amancio Ortega's Inditex relies almost on advertising. The Zara boss spends most of his resources on efficient retail operations. Since Zara came into operation, Amancio Ortega has strictly adhered to two operating principles: Replacing products at breakneck speed (replacing products twice a week) and delivering orders. extremely fast (up to 48 hours).

While other fashion houses take months to design, perfect, distribute and sell new products, Zara does this within 3 weeks. Zara even took only 10 days to "turn" design ideas into products on shelves. That means Amancio Ortega's companies can respond to shoppers' whims much more easily than their competitors, while reducing inventory costs.

The products that customers do not buy or buy less will immediately be reviewed by the store manager and find out the reason. Store managers carefully control what items are selling well, what customers are looking for, what they are wearing, and report to management, design... Just like that, Zara operates the department. machine efficiently for many years.

This business strategy is a special mark on Amancio's business activities for many years to come. That is also what helps Zara become a famous fashion retail chain around the world.

In the following years, Inditex under his leadership has grown at a rapid pace and owns a series of major brands. By 2008, Inditex had about 4000 stores in 70 countries and was considered the largest fashion retailer in the world. As of 2019, Inditex is the world's highest-grossing fashion retail group.

In fact, Zara is not the only clothing brand owned by billionaire Amancio Ortega's Inditex. This company is also holding a series of other popular brands that make world fashion connoisseurs fascinated such as Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Pull & Bear, Bershka...

So far, Zara has become one of the popular brands with an amazing growth rate, with a series of retail systems across the world and is loved by many people. It can be compared that Zara has crept into every corner of the world. Ortega's successful Zara empire is today and he always has his own secrets.

How much is the owner of Zara's fortune?

Few people would have thought that just owning a popular fashion brand could help Amancio Ortega become the richest man in Spain as well as in the world. Even this billionaire does not have the ambition to own a huge fortune that many people wish. His business is constantly growing, helping him to increase his own fortune.

By 2014, Amancio Ortega's total fortune had reached 62.7 billion dollars and he is currently ranked 4th in the list of world's billionaires voted by Forbes. By the time of 2019, he dropped to 6th place but his total assets increased to 68.3 billion USD.

Not only that, he also began to encroach into the real estate market. Ortega owns many of the most popular real estate deals in Spain through the investment fund Pontegadea Inversiones, notably the purchase of Torre Picasso in Madrid for $ 536 million in 2011. This is the court. 157m high skyscraper, the tallest in Spain.

And in 2016, another skyscraper in Madrid, Cepsa Tower, for $ 551 million became the possession of this Spanish billionaire. He is also the owner of the Epic Hotel and Hotel in Miami, considered one of the most luxurious hotels in the US and worth $536 million.

Ortega also bought an office block in London's affluent Mayfair neighborhood bordering Hyde Park as well as numerous other properties on London's main shopping street, Oxford Street... In 2015, when Inditex shares peaked, With a net worth of more than $80 billion, he surpassed the richest man at the time Bill Gates to become the richest in the world, according to Forbes.

This Spanish billionaire has built himself a global real estate "empire", including offices now used by both Facebook and Amazon in Seattle, and many other large properties on Oxford Street. London's prestige. The total value of Pontegadea Inversiones' real estate portfolio, owned by Mr Ortega, amounted to 10 billion euros ($11 billion) as of the end of 2018.

Simple lifestyle

According to the Economist, despite being very rich and talented, billionaire Amancio Ortega has always kept a simple and harmonious lifestyle. As a person who is dedicated to his work, but he does not have his own office, he prefers to sit down with colleagues to direct his employees.

Although Ortega's net worth is impressive, not many people know about him. The 82-year-old Spanish billionaire is fiercely protective of his privacy and rarely gives interviews to the press. According to Bloomberg, in 2012, he only agreed to interview with three journalists.

He and his wife, Mera, separated around that time, but she remained the company's second-largest shareholder. In August 2013, Mera died at the age of 69 in her position as Spain's richest woman.

In 2001, Ortega married his second wife, Flora Perez. Ortega and Perez shared a daughter, Marta, who later became a senior creative consultant at Zara Women. Ortega and his wife, Flora, live in a secluded apartment building in La Coruna, Spain.

Ortega's eldest daughter with late wife Mera, Sandra Ortega Mera, inherited the title of richest woman in Spain after her mother's death. With an estimated fortune of $6.85 billion, she controls 5% of Inditex through her company, Rosp Corunna.

Amancio Ortega revealed he hasn't taken a vacation in 25 years. On holidays, he often returns to his hometown or works. People who work with Amancio Ortega often say that he does not like to express himself, because according to this businessman, the company's success comes from the collective effort and creativity, not just his own.

Despite stepping down as chairman of the board of Inditex in 2012, Ortega still travels 10 miles to the company's headquarters in Arteixo almost every day. The owner has lunch with the staff at the canteen. Instead of being lost in his own office, he often has a desk next to other employees such as designers, builders and buyers. He is seen as a humble and mysterious billionaire.

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