Amancio Ortega
Spanish businessman; cofounder of Inditex (Zara)
| Amancio Ortega
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 3 1936 (age 90 years old (as of 2026)
) |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | Cofounder of Inditex (Zara) |
Amancio Ortega (born 28 March 1936) is a Spanish businessman, cofounder of Inditex (Zara).[1] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Ortega 11th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$145.2 billion; Forbes gives the source of wealth as Zara.[2]
Background
Born 28 March 1936; Spanish citizen.[1]
Education
No education record was found in the sources checked.
Career and companies
Began manufacturing textiles through a small family company in 1963; cofounded Inditex (Zara) in 1975.[1]
In its 2018 World's Billionaires profile text, Forbes stated: "He is the owner of Spanish soccer team Deportivo La Coruna."[1]
According to Inditex, Ortega started a small business in a workshop making women’s clothing in 1963, opened the first Zara store in A Coruña in 1975, and founded Inditex as its parent company in 1985. Inditex has been listed on the stock market since 23 May 2001, after a public offering in which demand was 26 times the shares offered.[3]
How the wealth was made
About 60% of Inditex, plus a real-estate portfolio funded by dividends.[1]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this person in its annual World's Billionaires list in 26 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2001. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[4][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 43 | 6.6 | – | – |
| 2002 | 25 | 9.1 | – | – |
| 2003 | 18 | 10.3 | – | – |
| 2004 | 33 | 9.2 | – | – |
| 2005 | 23 | 12.6 | – | – |
| 2006 | 23 | 14.8 | – | – |
| 2007 | 8 | 24.0 | – | – |
| 2008 | 22 | 20.2 | – | – |
| 2009 | 10 | 18.3 | – | – |
| 2010 | 9 | 25.0 | – | – |
| 2011 | 7 | 31.0 | – | – |
| 2012 | 5 | 37.5 | – | – |
| 2013 | 3 | 57.0 | – | – |
| 2014 | 3 | 64.0 | – | – |
| 2015 | 4 | 64.5 | – | – |
| 2016 | 2 | 67.0 | – | – |
| 2017 | 4 | 71.3 | – | – |
| 2018 | 6 | 70.0 | – | – |
| 2019 | 6 | 62.7 | – | – |
| 2020 | 6 | 55.1 | – | – |
| 2021 | 11 | 77.0 | – | – |
| 2022 | 23 | 59.6 | – | – |
| 2023 | 13 | 77.3 | – | – |
| 2024 | 13 | 103.0 | – | – |
| 2025 | 9 | 124.0 | – | – |
| 2026 | 10 | 148.0 | – | – |
Philanthropy
In October 2021 the Amancio Ortega Foundation agreed with Spain’s government and regions to donate €280 million for ten proton-therapy accelerators in the public health system; earlier agreements of more than €300 million funded around 450 cancer diagnostic and treatment units.[5][6] Foundation-level: the Fundación Amancio Ortega reports €514 million of social investment carried out in 2021–2025, including €464 million for social welfare and €47 million for education, plus €511 million committed for 2026–2030. Contributions from the founder totalled €1,021 million over 2021–2025, including €66 million in 2025.[7]
Political donations and public roles
Not a US citizen, so US federal donation records were not searched; no political donations were found in the sources checked.
Controversies and legal cases
No legal cases were found in the sources checked.
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
The proton-therapy donation was presented by the Spanish government (La Moncloa) on 19 October 2021.[6]
Other international links
Foundation-level: in October 2024 the Amancio Ortega Foundation agreed with the Portuguese government to donate €80 million for two proton therapy accelerators at IPO Porto, the Portuguese public oncology institute.[8]
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Amancio Ortega (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/amancio-ortega/) Forbes, live record, real-time timestamp 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Inditex, Frequent Questions Inditex, undated page, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Fundación Amancio Ortega, Programme for the implementation of proton therapy in the Spanish public health system Fundación Amancio Ortega, undated page, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 La Moncloa (Government of Spain), Sanchez presents a Plan for the implementation of proton therapy that will place us at the forefront of Europe in this type of cancer treatment La Moncloa (Government of Spain), 19 October 2021, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Fundación Amancio Ortega, La Fundación en cifras Fundación Amancio Ortega, undated page (figures to 2025), accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Fundación Amancio Ortega, Programme for the implementation of proton therapy in the Portuguese public health system Fundación Amancio Ortega, undated page, accessed 20 October 2026.