Lawyer succeeds Inditex's founder Ortega

58 years after founding Inditex, Amancio Ortega leaves his position as president of the board of directors to co-president Pablo Isla (47). 

From zero to… €22 billion

The richest man in Spain has an estimated fortune of 22 billion euro. Only 17 years old, he started a small bathrobe store, leading to the opening of the first Zara in 1975. His innovative fast-fashion brand Zara earned him, out of nothing, the seventh largest fortune in the world. In the following years, his empire was expanded with brands like Berschka and Massimo Dutti. 

Ortega’s successor, Pablo Isla, has a completely different profile. Unlike the uneducated self-made man before him, Isla is a lawyer and former tobacco giant’s co-chairman. To insure continuity, the 75 years old will keep his 59.3% of Inditex’s shares.

Inditex’s success is fuelled by fast rotation: 40% of the group’s stock is replaced weekly, designs are produced in small quantities and more than half of all the clothing is produced in Europe and nearby Morocco. This strategy earned Inditex a recent benefit over rivals like H&M, whose profits were harmed by higher production costs in China.