The name Amancio Ortega is synonymous with Zara and the Inditex Group, but the entrepreneur’s journey toward building an international fashion business began long before these brands came into existence. Ortega left school early, learned the craft of hand-sewing clothing, then moved into textile manufacturing, and gradually transitioned to his own business model. His career was built on the steady expansion of his existing business.
Amancio Ortega Gaona was born on March 28, 1936, in the small Spanish village of Busdongo de Arbas. He spent his childhood in Tolosa, and as a teenager moved to La Coruña because of his father’s job on the railroad. It was there that his connection to the garment industry began.
First Steps in the Apparel Industry
At age 14, Ortega dropped out of school. In La Coruña, he got a job as an assistant at the Gala shirt store. The work was a far cry from the managerial role he would take on many years later. The young employee focused on the practical aspects of production and learned to make clothes by hand.
This experience proved crucial for his future career. Ortega gained an understanding of how clothing is made, how much labor is required to produce it, and how manufacturing works in a small business. Later on, he no longer limited himself to working with ready-made garments but began to develop his own production operations.
In 1963, the entrepreneur founded Confecciones Goa. The company manufactured quilted robes. At this stage, Amancio Ortega had not yet built a massive retail group, but it was his in-house production that laid the foundation for his next step.
From a Small Manufacturing Operation to Zara
The turning point came in 1975. Together with his first wife, Rosalia Mera, Ortega opened the first Zara store. The new retail location built on the manufacturing experience he had already gained: the entrepreneur had a clear understanding of how clothing is made and was able to establish a connection between the production of garments and their sale.
Zara subsequently became part of a much larger structure—Inditex, or Industrias de Diseño Textil. By 2009, the group comprised more than 6,000 stores and several well-known brands, including Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, and Bershka. At that time, the company employed more than 92,000 people.
The growth of the business gradually took Ortega beyond the role of an entrepreneur tied to just one store or one brand. Inditex evolved into a major international group, and Zara became its most recognizable brand.
Amancio Ortega’s Personal Life
Despite his immense wealth and fame, Ortega has always tried to stay out of the public eye. For a long time, photos of the entrepreneur were virtually nonexistent in the press, and interviews were a rarity.
His style does not fit the typical image of a billionaire. Ortega prefers simple clothing: a blue jacket, a white shirt, and gray pants. However, according to biographical sources, these items are not from Zara.
The entrepreneur has been married twice. His first marriage was to Rosalia Mera, with whom he founded the first Zara store. The couple had two children before divorcing in 1986. In 2001, Ortega married Flora Pérez Marcote. They have a daughter, Marta Ortega Pérez
Charitable Activities
Philanthropy has become another significant area of Ortega’s activities. The Amancio Ortega Foundation was established in 2001. The organization is involved in projects related to education and social support.
One of the foundation’s first widely publicized donations was a 20 million euro contribution to Caritas in 2012. The foundation also developed an educational program that gave high school students the opportunity to spend their first year of high school in Canada or the United States.
Later, a significant portion of its charitable activities focused on medicine. In 2017, the foundation announced a donation of 320 million euros to Spain’s public health systems to combat cancer. The funds were earmarked for the purchase and maintenance of medical equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Ortega’s charitable initiatives have not always been viewed positively. Some political forces in Spain have criticized this model of private donations to the public healthcare system. Nevertheless, the scale of his investments has made the entrepreneur’s philanthropic activities a prominent part of his public profile.