This Guy Has Surpassed Bill Gates to Become the Richest Person on Earth

As of Wednesday, the Microsoft owner, Bill Gates, is no longer the richest man in the world.

That honor now belongs to Amancio Ortega.

According to Forbes, the shares of Ortega’s business Inditex, which is the parent company to brands Zara, Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear, climbed 2.5% on Wednesday, increasing Ortega’s personal fortune by $1.7 billion.

The change resulted in his net worth increase from $77.8 billion to $79.5 billion, which is now higher than Gates’ $78.5 billion.

Who is Amancio Ortega?

Ortega, son of a railway worker, briefly became the world’s richest man for the first time in October 2015 after Inditex shares hit an all-time high and boosted his net worth to $80 billion.

The current world’s richest man started his career as a store clerk in his hometown. He opened his business facing various financial dilemmas. Initially, he invested less than $100 in his business along with his wife. They used to make apparels such as pajamas and nightgowns in their living rooms.

They continued their work and invested the profit again and again. Eight years later, Ortega’s business had expanded to nine locations around Spain in 1975.

About Inditex

Inditex is one of the largest retailers in the world. Ortega’s company is also considered as the world’s most efficient retailing operation. In the early 2000s, companies such as Gap and H&M took upto five months to design, make, distribute and sell new products whereas Ortega’s mastermind business did all that in three weeks which resulted in exponential growth of his businesses. It relies highly on advertising compared to competitor retailers in the market.

In 2001, Ortega took his business public and debuted in Forbes’ billionaires list the same year. His initial net worth was $6.6 billion. At that time, Bill Gates was already the richest man with a fortune of $58.7 billion.

An auto and football enthusiast, you can contact Syed Zarar at [email protected]. For more discussions, contact him on Facebook (fb.com/TacticallyInept). He tweets at: @TacticallyInept.

SEO Team Lead, Content Strategist, and an avid sports lover!


  • He can be the richest man. The real thing is retain that position for as long as Bill Gates has. Just $0.02

      • Who’s competing? For the past 8 years, Bill has been giving away $20 billion in charity each year. If he had invested that money instead, he would have easily crossed a quarter trillion mark long ago.

      • Stolen what what? It is not the first time Bill Gates has lost “throne” but always regained it. In fact, Ortega already surpassed him in October 2015 for a few hours. Carlos Slim and Warren Buffet surpassed him earlier but also for short times.

        Pay attensions Waqas.

  • I think it would be a bubble. May be the stock price of Inditex increased and based on the total equity of Mr. Amancio, he became the richest person on earth same like Carlos Slim of Maxico.

    • Agar dr asim pr lageh ilzamat sahi hanh t’w dunya ka ameer tareen insaan hah woh yaha millions ki ni trillions ki corruption hah agar ksi patwari aur jayallay ko chubeh t’w achi baat hah chubna chahiye khuch logo k bareh bhi ghulam thay khud bhi ghulam hanh bachay bhi ghulam hongeh Dr Bisharat is somewhere right aur jahan t’k reh giye Bill gates ki baat bhai polio ki free vacine jo har bacha peeta hah useh bill gate sponser krta hah dunya mein sab se zyada donation deta hah baat ameer tareen banany ki ni balkeh is cheaz ko sustain krneh ki hah…!!!

  • But also take into account, Bill Gates is the world’s biggest Charity donor ($28 Billions). He’ll get it back soon! ;)

    • That happens with sudden surge in stocks, few weeks ago Bill Gates net worth went up to $90 Billion and now back to normal with stock prices. Also don’t forget Bill also keeps donating his fortune to Melinda Gates Foundation Fund which hurts his net worth as well.

  • so many people arguing over who is richer than who. Leave it they don’t give a F they’re rich, thats what matters to them, stop messing.


  • Get Alerts

    Follow ProPakistani to get latest news and updates.


    ProPakistani Community

    Join the groups below to get latest news and updates.



    >