Europe’s fast fashion king Amancio Ortega clips Carlos Slim to become world’s third-richest person

LONDON/NEW JERSEY – Mr Amancio Ortega, Europe's richest man, became the third-richest person in the world yesterday (May 12), passing Mexico's Carlos Slim for the second time this year. The founder of Inditex SA, the world's largest fashion retailer, has increased his fortune to US$68 billion (S$90.8 billion). It's up 79 per cent since March 2012, when the Bloomberg Billionaires Index debuted. Inditex operates more than 6,600 stores under brands that include Zara, Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear.

Sales at the Spanish company have increased 31 per cent since 2012 to US$24 billion in the year ended January 2015. Since Inditex's 2001 initial public offering, Mr Ortega has received more than US$3 billion in dividends and has invested the proceeds in commercial properties in major cities across Europe and the US.

The billionaire's performance has eclipsed that of the three other richest people on the planet: Mr Slim, and US billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Mr Slim's fortune has declined 1 per cent, to US$67.3 billion, since the index debuted while Mr Gates has increased 38 per cent and Mr Buffett 62 per cent. Mr Ortega has added US$7 billion to his fortune since Jan 1, while Mr Buffett, Mr Gates and Mr Slim have lost a combined US$8 billion.

The four billionaires have personal fortunes totalling US$293 billion, about the same size as Israel's gross domestic product, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. BLOOMBERG