The Fashion Billionaires

The Fashion Billionaires

When you think of wealth and fashion, certain names come to mind: Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, maybe Benetton.

For good reason. Despite sitting pretty atop an industry where buzz is everything, Ortega doesn’t talk to the press. And though he’s made billions of dollars from his wildly successful fashion company, he rarely wears a tie and often dons jeans.

The son of a railway worker began making dressing gowns and lingerie in his living room 45 years ago with the help of his wife. Today that business is Inditex, a fashion powerhouse with 3,825 stores in 68 countries, including popular chains like Zara. Ortega’s stake made him the 22nd wealthiest person in the world in our annual listing of the World’s Billionaires, published in March. We estimated the Spaniard’s total net worth at $20.2 billion.