Amancio Ortega Gaona has born March 28, 1936 in León, Spain.

He is a Galician fashion entrepreneur, Chairman of the Inditex group, one of the most successful in fast fashion.

With help from then-wife Rosalía Mera, got start making gowns and lingerie in his living room 44 years ago. In 1975 he opened the first store in what would grow into the enormously popular chain of fashion stores called Zara. He owns 59.29% of the Inditex group (Industrias de Diseño Textil Sociedad Anónima) which includes many brands, like Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Kiddy's Class, Tempe, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear/Often and Bershka and has more than 14,000 employees.

Inditex sales in 2005 were $8.7 billion.

Zara retail stores, owned directly by the group are 3,000, in 64 different countries.

In 2009 he has been ranked by Forbes as Spain's richest man and the 10th richest man in the World.

Ortega had a reputation as a private and secretive man. He never granted interviews to the media, and the company released very little personal information about its founder and chairman; some in the press referred to the Inditex chief as a "publicist's nightmare". There are practically no photographs of him (except from one photo published at the Inditex website). He refuses to wear a tie, and likes to dress in blue jeans. He is said to take a very active part in the production and design process in the company.

He currently lives with his second wife in a discreet apartment building in the centre of A Coruña.