Biography
Ortega was born in Busdongo de Arbás, León, Spain, and spent his childhood in León. He moved to La Coruña at the age of 14, due to the job of his father, a railway worker. Starting as a low-level employee in various shirt stores in La Coruña, in 1972 he founded Confecciones Goa (his initials in reverse), which made bathrobes. In 1975, he opened the first store in what would grow into the large chain of fashion stores called Zara. He owns 59.29% of the Inditex group (Industrias de Diseño Textil Sociedad Anónima), which has more than 92,000 employees and includes the brands Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Kiddy's Class, Tempe, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear, and Bershka.
Ortega keeps a very low profile. He refuses to wear a tie, typically dressing in blue jeans and t-shirts. He is said to take a very active part in the production and design process in the company.
When he made a public appearance in 2000 — as part of the warm-up prior to his company's initial public offering on the stock market in 2001 — it made headlines in the Spanish financial press. However, he has never given an interview, and his secrecy has led to the publication of books such as Amancio Ortega: de cero a Zara (From Zero to Zara).
In 2011, Ortega announced his imminent retirement from Inditex, parent company of the Zara chain, stating that he would ask Inditex vice-president and CEO Pablo Isla to take his place at the helm of the textile empire.
Read more about this topic: Amancio Ortega Gaona
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