Meet Amancio Ortega, the fiercely private Zara founder who’s worth $62 billion and owns properties in Madrid, London, and New York City

fotopress/Getty Images

• Amancio Ortega, the founder of clothing retailer Zara, is the sixth-richest person in the world, according to Forbes.
• The 82-year-old Spaniard is worth an estimated $62.7 billion.
• Ortega owns 59% of Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer that owns Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, and other brands.
• He has bought properties in Madrid, London, Miami Beach, and New York City.

He may be the sixth-richest person in the world, but few people know his name. Amancio Ortega is the Spanish billionaire behind Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer that owns Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, and Stradivarius, and other brands.

Ortega is worth an estimated $62.7 billion, according to Forbes.

The mysterious Zara founder was briefly the world’s richest man back in 2015, Forbes reported. He bypassed the then-richest person, Bill Gates, when his net worth peaked to $80 billion as 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 gained in June 2015. 

Read more: We went inside one of the sprawling factories where Zara makes its clothes. Here’s how the world’s biggest fashion retailer gets it done.

Despite Ortega’s impressive net worth, many people have never heard of him. The 82-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 eight brands including Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Pull&Bear — has more than 7,500 stores around the world.

Ortega is surpassed in wealth by only five people: Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Bernard Arnault, and Carlos Slim Helu. 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.

Ashley Lutz and Mallory Schlossberg contributed to an earlier version of this story.

Amancio Ortega is the sixth-richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $67.9 billion.

Getty Images / Xurxo Lobato

Source: Bloomberg

Ortega owns 59% of Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer that owns brands including Zara …

fotopress/Getty Images

Source: Bloomberg

… Pull&Bear, a teen-focused retailer with 970 stores in 76 markets around Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America …

Manu Reino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Source: Business Insider

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• How Kylie Jenner became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, from starring in a reality TV show at age 9 to running a $900 million cosmetics empire at 21
• A Chinese billionaire is the richest self-made woman in the world. Here’s how she went from making $16 a month in a factory to controlling a $9.4 billion real estate empire
• Meet François Pinault, the French billionaire who has a $1.2 billion art collection, owns Christie’s, and founded Kering, the luxury giant behind Gucci and Balenciaga

SEE ALSO: Meet the Arnaults, the French billionaires who control luxury-goods empire LVMH, own villas on the French Riviera and in LA, and rub shoulders with models, royalty, and tech moguls

DON’T MISS: Meet the Ambanis, the richest family in Asia, who live in a $1 billion skyscraper and mingle with royals, politicians, and Bollywood stars

Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Katie Warren)