A Spaniard has pipped Bill Gates as the richest man on earth.
The fashion tycoon and founder of Zara and other shops sped ahead of Bill Gates by nearly $2 billion, according to Forbes magazine calculator.
Amancio Ortega’s net worth was listed at $79.8 billion. Bill Gates lagged behind by $1.7 billion.
The Forbes measurement is a real-time calculator, so the result considered tomorrow may vary.
But Friday’s reading had the line up as Amancio Ortega, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim in Mexico, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
Ortega’s empire stated in 1975 with the first Zara store. Over time its popular ranges of fashion took its outlets to 88 countries.
Its mother company, Inditex, is now the world’s largest fashion retailer. Inditex, also run by Orgega, includes stores like Stradivarious, Bershka, and Massimo Dutti.
His life is something of a rags to riches tale. As a teenager in A Coruña he began working for a local shirtmaker. Later he and his wife used their living room to sew bathrobes and lingerie.
On Thursday Ortega, 79, said his foundation will donate €17 million to local public hospitals in Galicia. The funds will pay for renovation and maintenance of equipment for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer.
Comments
No doubt a pillar of his local Lodge. But tax deductible of course or he wouldn't be doing it.
http://www.expatica.com/es/finance/tax/Taxation-in-Spain_471614.html