Bill Gates lost the title of richest person in the world briefly on Friday. The Microsoft founder was knocked off the top of the Forbes Billionaires real time list by Amancio Ortega, a Spanish businessman and founding chairman of the Inditex fashion group. His company is responsible for popular fashion brands such as Zara.
Ortega is the son of a "mere" railway worker. He was born during the Spanish civil war and grew up what could be described as relative poverty. The 79-year-old left school at the age of 13 to work full time in a clothing shop.
According to Forbes, he established Zara in 1975 with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera, selling lingerie and bathrobes the couple made in their living room.
He reportedly lives a modest life despite his vast wealth, eats lunch with his employees in the staff canteen everyday, buys his coffee from the same cafe he frequented while growing up and often dresses in the same blazer-t-shirt combination, neither of which are from Zara. Mr Gaona is fiercely private and rarely gives interviews to the press.
He overtook Gates as the world’s richest man on Friday with an estimated real time net worth of $78.7bn.
But Bill Gates overtook him again in less than 24 hours, and was back at the top spot with an estimated net worth of $79.5. When money speaks!
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