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Whenever the name of a billionaire is stated on TV, people very easily believe they must be from a rich family. That is a false perception because knowing how many hardships they had to face in order to reach a specific point in their lives, is simply amazing. Becoming rich and attaining a position amongst the billionaires of the world is not easy. It requires years of hard work and passion towards your goals. Overnight success does not exist in real life for anybody and the wealthy are no exception. They have to put the same amount of effort into their work to achieve their goals.
These billionaires are self-made people who prove to the world that anything is possible if you have the willpower to achieve it. They teach us that no what matter the circumstances are, a person should never loose hope and keep trying their best. These people tend to have an undesirable appetite to strive for greatness, regardless of what anybody says, so as a result, nothing in the world can stop them except from themselves.
Amancio Ortega is a name you might be familiar with. He comes from a poor family but with his extreme desire to succeed, he was able to be among the top billionaires in the world. He is number 11th on the list of top billionaires in the world. In this article, we will go through the life of Amancio Ortega and analyze how he was able to achieve the billionaire status.
Who is Amancio Ortega?
Amancio Ortega was born on the 28th March 1936 in Spain. His father was a railway worker and he could barely fulfill all the requirements for his family. Ortega had to leave his school in his teen years and started working since then. Today, Ortega is a famous Spanish brand owner who owns a top brand named ‘Zara’. He is the founder of Inditex fashion, a group that owns Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, and many more. He has been the president of Inditex from 1985 – 2011. Zara has always been a favorite fashion brand around the world due to its durability and unique fashion styles. The stores of Zara are located in many countries and are successfully run worldwide and yes, also online!
Ortega is the pioneer of fast fashion because of his brand Zara. Zara provides the most unique and stylish fashion products at a reasonable price which makes it the most favorite brand for the people around the globe.
Let’s have a look into the life of one of the biggest business tycoons in the world.
Here are few things that you must know about Amancio Ortega:
1. Left School due to Poverty
As stated previously, Amancio Ortega comes from a poor family. He is the youngest among his siblings and was born in Leon spending his childhood there.
His family had financial constraints which forced him to leave school at a young age. His father was a railway worker whose meager salary could not allow Ortega to study further. He loved studying and he was a good student but due to the financial condition of his family, he had to help them. So, Ortega left school at 14 and went to work for a shirt maker.
Working with the shirt maker named Gala, he learned to sew shirts by hand. With time he gained experience and became good at his work. Poverty in his family proved to be his introduction into the business of fashion. Nobody could have imagined that a child who could not continue his studies due to poverty will be one of the top billionaires in the world at some point.
His first hard work with the shirt tailor taught him much about the fashion industry. Though he had access to only one item i.e. shirt, he proved his worth in the entire fashion industry by learning everything about it by himself.
His first boss Gala still sits in the same corner in Downtown a Coruna but Ortega succeeded in changing his life completely.
2. 1st Business at the age of 37
Usually, when we read about stories of successful people, all of them start their businesses earlier in their 20s. But as compared with other successful businessmen in the world, Ortega started his business late. He started his first business at the age of 37. The name of his first company was GOA, which was the reverse of his name’s first letters i.e. Amancio Ortega Gaona. GOA was a brand related to quilted bathrobes, especially for ladies. Initially, he and his wife used to knit the bathrobes at home. His wife was a big support system in the struggling days of Ortega’s life. She stood by him and helped him establish his business by helping him knit those bathrobes. Afterwards, they hired a few local women to do sewing for them.
Every item of GOA gained much success due to the perfection in the products knitted by Ortega and his wife. They both worked hard to make their business run. It took them much time to become able to hire team for their brand.
Initiating a business at 37 is not an easy thing. You have probably already crossed your prime age of energy and enthusiasm but even at the age of 37, he was more enthusiastic and energetic than 25-year-olds today which made him a billionaire. Now at 84 years old, he is still looking after each and everything regarding his business, because he is habitual of doing work by himself from the start of his business.
3. Initially, ZARA was named ZORBA
When Ortega started his brand ZARA, he named it Zorba lounge. The first ZARA store was opened in 1975 with the named Zorba. But there was a bar two blocks away which was also named as ‘Zorba’. To avoid any confusion, they considered changing the brand’s name. They shuffled the alphabets of Zorba to find a new name and they found Zara.
After 9 years of its first opening, Zara was located at 9 different locations which was a big achievement in a very short time. Who knows…if he had not changed the name of Zorba he may not have been such a successful retail brand owner. The name Zara itself is very attractive, as it has only 4 letters in the name of a brand, making it unique and eye-catching.
However, it will be wrong to say that Zara is a successful business due to its name alone! It is a huge brand because of its unique business model. Zara changes its collection every 2 weeks whereas many other brands change their collections after 2 to 3 months.
4. Ortega does not believe in advertising campaigns
Every famous brand in the world believes that there might be a dire need for extensive advertising of their products so people may get inspired and buy more of their products. Brands use social media platforms, affiliate marketing, print media, television ads, and billboards at various places in cities for their advertising. But, Ortega has a different mindset. He spends almost nothing on advertising his products.
He says that the quality and uniqueness of his products will itself attract the customers towards the ZARA outlets and he does not need any advertising budget separately to convince his customers.
This is the reason why you do not remember any advertisement of ZARA on billboards, social media, or on your TV. Almost every rival of ZARA spends a huge budget on advertising but ZARA doesn’t, which makes it unique among its rivals.
Instead of focusing on advertising, he gives due attention to the “location of ZARA stores”. Zara stores are always located in the most expensive places in the city. They are always close to other top expensive brands like Gucci, Prada, Hermes Paris, etc.
5. Ortega eats lunch with his staff daily
Even after being amongst the top billionaires in the world, he still has not forgotten his roots. Amancio Ortega does not let his wealth make him proud or arrogant. He is a very down-to-earth person who lives an ordinary life.
Believing that one can reach the limits of the sky, he will never forget the years of struggle and hard work. When a person remembers how difficult it was for him to reach a certain point in his or her life, he remains grounded and grateful.
In one of his interviews, he got emotional while talking about his childhood and said he still remembers how he used to feel about his parents back then. He said his parents would have been so proud of him that he has achieved so much, from a little town in Spain to now having a brand in the top locations in almost every country.
These are the values that make him eat lunch with his office staff in the cafeteria. This act of Ortega makes him different from many rich people in the world. He shares a desk with his designers and staff during mealtime daily, which gives them a lot of confidence and making him very popular amongst them. His lifestyle is still similar to his previous life when he was not a billionaire.
6. Having A Private Life
Ortega lives a private life because he is an introvert and does not like to share his life matters with everyone. Despite him being a billionaire, the world knows very little about him. He rarely speaks about his life and he has given interviews to only three journalists. He is not the type of person who is active on social media and shares all the tidbits from his daily life, he is different.
Till 1999 no photograph of Amancio Ortega was published anywhere. He has a strong belief to not necessarily be dependent on the media in order to become popular, if you are talented and intelligent enough. This is the reason why you may have not seen many videos about him and his lifestyle.
7. Exceptional business model:
Zara is the biggest high street fashion brand being famous worldwide due to its exceptional business model. Zara can design and launch a product into their stores within 2 to 3 weeks. It probably has the unbeatable fashion product logistics making Zara unique and the biggest fashion brand.
Designing a product and then creating it in much less time is a great idea because the brand stays always up-to-date. You will see new products at Zara whenever you visit the store due to which it is the major source of attraction for its customers.
Ortega is considered the pioneer of fast fashion due to his eye for investments. Even though Zara has tough working schedules for its workers, the products are still priced at a rate, an average person can also afford it. This is the reason you see so many people in Zara stores all the time.
8. Promotes education:
As mentioned earlier Ortega could not complete his studies due to the financial crisis in his family. He relates himself very closely with the people who are struggling to make their ends meet. He aspires to help students who are unable to pay their fees or thinking to skip their school or college.
This is the reason Ortega pays 500 Spanish students to go to College in the US and Canada every year. He wants to provide quality education to as many students as he can.
He also funds various catholic charities. He gave 20 million Euros to Caritas Internationalis which works for global relief.
9. Property owned by Ortega:
Ortega owns a luxury complex in Miami which includes hotels and apartments, located right at the water in Miami with the choices of penthouses and suites. It is one of the most luxurious hotels in Miami and the top choice of Miami’s visiting elites and no doubt, Ortega gets the best room whenever he visits there.
Amancio Ortega also owns one of the best corporate jets in the world which has a comfortable interior to make Ortega’s traveling full of comfort. The jet is worth 45 million dollars which is one of the most expensive and lavish purchases of Ortega. The jet has 14750 pounds of thrust and its top speed is 950 km/h being able to carry 18 passengers along with 4 crew members.
He has invested his money primarily into real estate in London, Chicago, New York, Miami, Madrid, and Barcelona.
10. 
Same uniform every day:
Ortega is not very finicky about his clothing and he does not like to pile up a huge number of items of clothing that are never really used. In this regard, he shares the same thoughts as Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg who does not like to buy a lot of jackets and shirts to flaunt.
Ortega does not like to flash his cash, which is why he wears the same uniform to the office every day. He wears his same White shirt with a blue blazer and grey trousers every single day while going to work. It has become his trademark and he can be seen in the headquarters wearing the same clothing.
Surprisingly he does not even wear Zara Man himself and you won’t see him wearing it any time soon.
Net Worth of Amancio Ortega
According to Forbes, the real-time net worth of business tycoon Amancio Ortega is $82.4 Billion as of March 13th 2021. From a child whose mom had no money to buy groceries for his house, to becoming a man who can buy anything, any time from anywhere around the world, Amancio has seen many ups and downs. When he left school, there were many nights without having a proper evening meal. Ortega always had hope and confidence in himself which led him to this stage.
Final Words
Reading about the lives of successful people gives motivation to other people to live their dream life if they stick to their passion. Amancio Ortega is such a person who did not sit around and cried upon his poor family condition. He dared to go out and find work to meet his family’s needs while he was just a teenager. Ortega was eager to fulfill his dreams that helped him become a world known billionaire. Although maintaining the billionaire status, he is unlike many other billionaires, not showing off his luxurious purchases on Instagram or anywhere on Social Media. Amancio Ortega does not even have a formal education but he does have an incredible business being very dominant in the high street fashion industry and additionally giving the term “fast fashion” a new meaning. There are a lot of lessons to learn from his life and getting inspired from it!
