A $17.2 billion global real estate empire for Zara founder, Ortega

Zara founder Amancio Ortega, 84, unveiled a $17.2 billion global real estate empire. After making a fortune in clothing, Ortega, Spain's richest man, turned his attention to real estate. He has diversified his fashion fortune to preserve his sizable wealth—investing more than $3 billion in U.S. real estate in recent years.

This is the largest real estate portfolio among Europe’s super-rich.

Investing through various subsidiaries of his holding company Pontegadea, Ortega’s real estate portfolio climbed last year by 2.1 billion euros. $3 billion of which is invested in U.S. real estate. Some to note are, Manhattan’s historic Haughwout Building, Miami’s tallest office tower, a downtown Chicago hotel, two Seattle office buildings, and a building in Washington’s central business district. These make him the landlord to notable companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Gap.

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Amancio Ortega’s net worth is $58.5 billion however due to the Coronavirus that has decreased more than a 5th this year.

For more on Ortega catch this story over on Bloomberg.com - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-07/spain-s-richest-man-has-amassed-17-2-billion-in-real-estate