Zara founder named fashion’s richest man

Spanish Amancio Ortega, the co-founder of the Inditex fashion group, which includes Zara and Massimo Dutti, has been named fashion’s richest man, according to Forbes’ 2013 Billionaires List. The Spanish businessman who is worth 57 billion

dollars, was ranked the third richest man in the annual list of billionaires, behind Mexican Telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Heluand and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates who hold first and second place, respectively.

The Zara boss moved ahead of Warren Buffett as he had the biggest gain of any of the billionaires from the report in 2012, increasing his fortune by 19.5 billion dollars in one year.

Other fashion names present in the billionaires chart included LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, who dropped from 4th to 10th place with his 29 billion dollar fortune, due to more information about his ‘complex shareholdings’, while H&M’s chairman Stefan Persson was ranked 12th with his 28 billion dollars net fortune.

Notable fashion newcomers to the billionaires club include Diesel jeans mogul Renzo Rosso with 3 billion dollars, Dolce&Gabbana founders Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana with 2 billion dollars each, and American designer Tory Burch at 1 billion dollars.

The 2013 Forbes Billionaires list boasts 1,426 names, with an aggregate net worth of 5.4 trillion dollars, up from 4.6 trillion dollar, and this year the list added 210 new ten-figure fortunes.

Image: Amancio Ortega