Amancio Ortega: the reclusive Spaniard who became the world's third-richest man

The third-richest person on earth

He has been named the third-richest person in the world — a self-made mogul behind the Zara fashion house with a staggering fortune estimated at $57 billion. But search for a photograph of Amancio Ortega, or any information about his private life, and the pickings are surprisingly few.

"Reclusive," "secretive," and "reserved" are the words usually used to describe the stocky 76-year-old from Spain, who leapfrogged Warren Buffett into third place on Forbes' 2013 annual billionaires ranking — the year's biggest gainer, up $19.5 billion. Ahead of him: Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim ($73 billion) and Microsoft founder Bill Gates ($67 billion).

A man who guards his privacy

Despite the best efforts of Spain's celebrity press, Ortega has jealously guarded his privacy — so much so that his company, Inditex, had released only one photograph of him, when the company listed in 2001. He routinely turns down interviews and is occasionally spotted at equestrian competitions with his family, wearing blue blazers and open-necked white shirts.

He maintains his privacy partly by living in the rainy city of A Coruña in northwest Spain, some 590 kilometers from Madrid. Security is tight at the company's Arteixo headquarters — visitors are collected in chauffeur-driven cars and taken to a campus sprawling across an area the size of 11 football pitches, with a mall inside called "Fashion Street" where every window display is trialed and photographed so stores from Madrid to Tokyo can replicate it.

From delivery boy to fast-fashion empire

The few biographers who claim access to him tell a rags-to-riches story: Ortega left school at 12 to work as a shirt-maker's delivery boy to help support his poor family. He learned fast, and began making gowns and lingerie in his living room with his first wife, Rosalía Mera. Realizing customers wanted affordable versions of catwalk trends, he opened his first Zara shop in A Coruña in 1975.

Experts credit Zara with inventing "fast fashion": affordable imitations of catwalk designs that move from drawing board to store within two weeks, with poor sellers pulled off the floor even faster. Customers know they have to buy quickly — garments are on display for only days before being replaced — which sends shoppers back again and again.

The numbers

• Inditex runs more than 6,000 stores in some 90 countries — the world's biggest fashion retailer, ahead of Gap and H&M — making 840 million garments a year across Zara, Zara Home, Massimo Dutti, and other brands
• Market capitalization: €65 billion; shares rose 67% in 2012 on record profits
• Ortega's stake: 59% of Inditex, worth about €38 billion, yielding him €666 million in gross dividends
• Inditex doesn't advertise — it hardly needs to when celebrities like Kate Middleton wear Zara

Ortega stepped down as chairman in 2011, handing over to Pablo Isla, though he is thought to retain an active role. Beyond retail, he has built a substantial property portfolio through his funds Pontegadea Inversiones (97.2% owned by him, 2.8% by his daughter Marta) and Pontegadea Inmobiliaria — his Zara stores typically occupying premium locations beside luxury brands.

A coda: the ranking didn't last. On March 26, 2013, Forbes noted that a small market move had briefly put Buffett ($54.9B) back ahead of Ortega ($54.5B) — a reminder of how fluid such lists are.

Archive summary, March 2013, based on reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald and Forbes.