Zara clothing magnate Amancio Ortega, 79, over took Microsoft founder Bill Gates for the first time ever in the Forbes rich list. According to Forbes's real-time tracker, the elusive multibillionaire founder of European clothing retailer Zara smashed past Bill Gates to become the wealthiest person on the planet, with a fortune of $79.8 billion (€71.83 billion or £51.84 billion). Bill Gates' estimated net worth is $79.5bn as of this afternoon. He's expected to take back his top position from Ortega.
The elusive Ortega isn't as much of a household name as Gates, but he's quietly ascended the wealth rankings in recent years, as his company continues to perform well and expand.
Ortega has a fascinating rags-to-riches story. Born in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, Ortega's father earned 300 pesetas a month, a meager salary.
Ortega's biographer described his memories of a childhood during which his family could not always afford enough food. He left school in his early teens, working his way up from the absolute bottom rung as a messenger boy in a shop.
It wasn't until he was 40 years old that Ortega got around to setting up Zara, the fast-fashion retailer that has gone from strength to strength — first growing in Spain, then neighbouring Portugal and France, then London. Now it's all over the globe.
According to Forbes, Ortega's wealth rose by 5.3%, another $4 billion, over the last 24 hours. That's partly down to a surge in Inditex shares, the parent company that owns Zara.
In the last 10 years, the market value of Inditex has risen by about 570%, the main driver of Ortega's climb up the ranks.
Ortega has Mario Draghi to thank for his new rank — the head of the European Central Bank's hints that the ECB would boost its quantitative-easing programme on Thursday sent shares in the eurozone surging upwards.
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