The Five Richest Spaniards

Poverty and wealth

“Crisis”, “dept”, “unemployment”, “austerity”- Those terms have been dominating the headlines of all European newspapers since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008. Spain was, and still is, one of the countries which was hit hardest by the crisis and it is still facing the consequences today. While the poverty gap in the country is widening, the richest Spaniards managed to amass greater wealth.

Amancio Ortega

Amancio Ortega is the richest person in Spain and ranks number three on the Forbes List of Billionaires. Ortega is a true self-made Billionaire. With help from then-wife Rosalía Mera, he got started making gowns and lingerie in his living room about 45 years ago. Ortega is the founder of the successful Inditex Group fashion company, with famous brands like Bershka, Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Oysho and the low cost brand Lefties. Today the company is one of the world’s most successful retailers. According to the Forbes Magazine, the 76 year-old has an estimated fortune of 57 billion US Dollars.

Rosalía Mera

The second richest person of this southern European country is Ortega’s ex-wife, Rosalía Mera. She is the co-founder of Inditex and one of the 20 richest women on the planet. At the age of 11 she dropped out of school and started working as a seamstress and later helped her husband making gowns and lingerie in their home. According to the Forbes Magazine, Mrs. Mera has a net worth of 6.1 billion US Dollars.

Juan Roig

Juan Roig’s grocery store chain, Mercadona, is the largest in its business sector in Spain. This sector seems to be almost immune to the financial crisis. His fortune went up 800.000 million to 5.5 billion US Dollars in the last year, which makes him the third richest person in Spain.

Isak Andic

The founder of the retailer Mango, Isak Andic, is Spain’s forth richest person. In 2012 Mango was present in 109 countries with more than 2,500 shops. The company employed more than 11,000 employees. Isak Andic has an estimated fortune of 5 billion US Dollars.

Manuel Jove

Manuel Jove, a carpenter by trade, opened his own real estate business, Fadesa Inmobiliaria, in 1980, which has become one of Spain’s leading property companies. Jove seems to be very intuitive: he sold 55% of his stake in 2006 just before the collapse of the Spanish real estate bubble. The fifth richest person in Spain has about 2.7 billion US Dollars in his bank account.

From the five richest Spaniards, three made their fortune through the fashion industry, one through food distribution and one through real estate. All of these people are self-made billionaires, who made their fortunes as a result of hard work, bravery and a natural talent for business.