Amancio Ortega Gaona was born on March 28, 1936, in Busdongo de Arbás, a small village in the province of León, Spain. ¹⁾

Ortega was the youngest of four children born to a railway worker father, Antonio Ortega Rodríguez, and a mother who worked as a housemaid. ²⁾

Due to financial hardship in his family, Ortega dropped out of school at age 14 and moved to A Coruña to start working. ³⁾

Ortega got his first job as a shop hand and delivery boy for Gala, a traditional shirtmaker in downtown A Coruña that still stands today. ⁴⁾

Working at the tailor shop exposed Ortega to the cost of raw textiles and taught him how to sew and manufacture garments by hand. ⁵⁾

In 1963, Ortega founded his first manufacturing business, Confecciones GOA, producing and selling quilted bathrobes with his family. ⁶⁾

The name GOA represented Ortega's initials spelled in reverse order (Gaona Ortega Amancio). ⁷⁾

In 1975, Ortega opened the first Zara store in downtown A Coruña to sell affordable ready-to-wear fashion directly to consumers. ⁸⁾

Ortega originally intended to name his store “Zorba” after the 1964 film Zorba the Greek, but changed it to “Zara” because a nearby bar already held the name. ⁹⁾

Because letter molds for the “Zorba” storefront sign had already been manufactured, Ortega rearranged the existing letters to spell “Zara”. ¹⁰⁾

Inditex expanded beyond Spain for the first time in 1988, opening a Zara store in Porto, Portugal, followed by stores in New York and Paris. ¹¹⁾

Unlike traditional luxury fashion houses, Ortega relied almost entirely on prime retail store locations rather than billboard or magazine advertising campaigns. ¹²⁾

For a brief period in October 2015, Ortega surpassed Bill Gates to become the world's richest man as Inditex's stock price hit a record high. ¹³⁾

Ortega consistently ranks as the wealthiest retailer in Europe and one of the top European billionaires overall. ¹⁴⁾

Ortega manages his multi-billion dollar investment portfolio through his private family office, Pontegadea Investments. ¹⁵⁾

Through Pontegadea, Ortega built the largest private real estate portfolio among European billionaires, focused on prime commercial properties. ¹⁶⁾

In 2019, Ortega's Pontegadea acquired Seattle's Troy Block office complex for $740 million, making him a major landlord to Amazon. ¹⁷⁾

Shortly after buying Amazon's offices, Ortega purchased two Seattle office buildings housing Facebook (Meta) employees for $415 million. ¹⁸⁾

In 2011, Ortega acquired Madrid's iconic 43-story Torre Picasso skyscraper for approximately €400 million. ¹⁹⁾

Ortega donated over €300 million to Spain's public health system to purchase hundreds of state-of-the-art mammography and radiotherapy machines for cancer treatment. ²⁰⁾

Through his foundation, Ortega arranged a €280 million agreement with the Spanish government to fund ten advanced proton therapy accelerators for treating pediatric and complex cancer cases. ²¹⁾

For decades, Ortega maintained extreme personal privacy; no public photo of him existed until Inditex released its first corporate prospectus in 1999. ²²⁾

Rather than dining in private executive suites, Ortega regularly eats his lunch alongside Inditex employees in the company cafeteria in Arteixo. ²³⁾

Ortega famously worked without a formal private office, preferring to sit at open design tables surrounded by pattern makers, buyers, and designers. ²⁴⁾

Despite owning a global fashion empire, Ortega adheres to a simple daily uniform of a navy blazer, white shirt, and gray trousers—none of which are Zara products. ²⁵⁾

Ortega co-founded his early textile ventures alongside his first wife, Rosalía Mera, who inherited a substantial fortune prior to her passing in 2013. ²⁶⁾

In April 2022, Ortega's youngest daughter, Marta Ortega Pérez, took over as chairwoman of Inditex. ²⁷⁾

His eldest daughter, Sandra Ortega Mera, inherited her late mother's shares in Inditex, standing as one of Spain's wealthiest women. ²⁸⁾

In 2000, Ortega established the 300,000-square-meter Casas Novas equestrian center in Arteixo to support international show jumping competitions. ²⁹⁾

Ortega commissioned the 92-meter hybrid superyacht “Drizzle,” built by prestigious Dutch shipyard Feadship. ³⁰⁾