The founder of Zara goes hand - July 20, 2011
The richest of Spaniards loose the reins of his empire. Amancio Ortega, founder of the Zara stores, transfers Tuesday's CEO to his current vice-president, Pablo Isla. At 75, Ortega also embodies a decision announced six months ago with a simple letter to staff. He leaves to his successor an empire, Inditex, built in thirty-six out of nothing. A juggernaut of ready-to-wear boutiques strong 5000 installed in 77 countries, employing over 100,000 people, realizing 12.5 billion euro of revenue.
For the Spanish, Amancio Ortega is the archetype of the autodidact. A mismo hombre hecho a if. The son of a railroad fortune became the seventh world.The teenager who was scraping by delivering luxury liners became a billionaire by making clothes … cheap!
Born in the province of Leon in 1936, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, the young Amancio has experienced the dark years of the postwar period. In his authorized biography, it evokes a memory which has profoundly affected. When he was 12, he intends to apologize to the shopkeeper his mother not being able to give him credit. Amancio then promises to never know hunger. He left school to accept a job as a deliveryman in a store of men's shirts in La Coruna.
A workhorse
Ortega never left textiles. He designed his first model and offers its employers. He was then assisted by his sister, brother, sister-and that would become his wife Rosalia Mera.The first article is a dressing gown, sold – already! – Half the price than the competition … Little by little, the small group up a workshop and a shop, Goa in 1963.
In 1975, was born in La Coruña the first Zara store. Then everything is accelerating proliferation of shops in the 1970s, internationalization in the years 1980 and 1990, IPO in 2001, opening in 2010 of the online store payday advance… Each time, Ortega is in charge. His method: "I always thought that to be successful, we needed each day to the organization upside down."
A workhorse in shirtsleeves and with a revolutionary grounded. This is at least the image he projects. For the richest man in Spain is also one of the most discreet.It was not until 1998 and agrees that Ortega is disseminated a picture of him! He shuns interviews like the plague. We know that the billionaire just enjoy the simple pleasures, such as scrambled eggs with chorizo and potatoes …
The discretion surrounding his private life also. Twice married, Ortega is the father of three children. His first wife Rosalia Mera, is co-founder of Inditex and occupies the 258th place on the Forbes list of richest people in the world. His current wife, Flora Pérez, was the employee of a Zara store, she became one of his key advisers.She gave him a daughter and, say, a possible heir, Marta Ortega.
The captain, however, given the helm to his right arm, Pablo Isla, who has already indicated he intended to follow the course: "2011 will be another year of significant investments to grow the company and create jobs." The conquest of new markets, particularly in Asia, and the acceleration of Internet sales are part of its priorities.
Marta Ortega, too, has been heavily involved in the family firm. However, at age 27, she was probably not ready to take the helm. Not yet, some analysts nuance. The war chest, at least, it deserves. Amancio Inditex owns 60%, through the foundation Amancio Ortega. And, while he yielded to Isla management of the company, Ortega has offered his daughter as President of the foundation.In Madrid and La Coruna, speculation is rife about the future and ambitions of each of the supposed heirs.