AMANCIO ORTEGA
Amancio Ortega is the founder and chairman of a company that owns many stores, including the enormously popular international clothing store, Zara. Now Spin's richest man, Ortega is the son of a railroad worker and a maid, and had no formal higher education. When Ortega was 13, he worked as a delivery boy for a shirtmaker and later became the manager of a clothing shop. He began making clothing in his living room and selling it to local stores. Ortega had an ability to predict what styles were going to be popular and to create these styles with inexpensive materials. In 1975, Ortega opened his first Zara store. Zara gained a reputation for selling designer fashions at reasonable prices. Today Ortega's company has more than 4,000 stores in countries.