Sign in/Register
Looking for the Professionals/Advertiser Login?
By Signing up you are agreeing with our Terms and Privacy Policy.Forgot your password?
Feedback is welcome
Of the 11 most affluent women in Spain, number one is Sandra Ortega Mera, the daughter of Zara's owner Amancio Ortega and the former wealthiest Spanish female Rosalía Mera – with a fortune valued at €7.5 billion through her shares in Inditex, Zara's parent company, and Zeltia, Sandra Ortega splits herself between her work for the family firm and for the disabled charity launched and run by her late mother Rosalía, the Paideia Foundation.
Chairwoman of Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, Sol Daurella i Comadrán (pictured) is Spain's second wealthiest woman with assets worth €3.7bn, and Banco Santander chair Ana Patricia Botín, whose fortune has halved in the last year to sit at €1.8bn is third.
Joint fourth are Helena Revoredo Delvecchio, chairwoman of Prosegur, whose wealth is valued at €1.5bn – down €50m on last year – and Alicia Koplowitz Romero de Juseu, who owns Omega Capital and who has lost €100m since 2014.
Spain's sixth-richest woman is Carlota Areces Galán, shareholder of the national department store El Corte Inglés, who is worth €1.2bn.
Joint seventh are Baroness Carmen Thyssen Bornemisza, owner of the art museum of the same name in Madrid and whose net worth of €900m remains unchanged since 2013, and another Corte Inglés shareholder, Paloma García Peña, who has more than doubled her wealth in the last year.
Chairwoman of Ocaso Insurance, Isabel Castelo d'Ortega, is ninth-richest with assets valued at €800m, followed by sisters Carmen and Liliana Godia, shareholders in Abertis, G3T, and BCN Godia, worth €650m after having lost €50 since 2014.
The country's 11th wealthiest woman is Alicia Koplowitz's sister Esther, whose shares in public service and maintenance giant FCC have halved in value this year, now sitting at €425m, after she lost her place at the helm to Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim.
Spain's richest man – who is also the wealthiest in Europe and, very briefly last week, the world – is Amancio Ortega, founder of the Inditex clothing empire which encompasses high-street brands Zara, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Uterqüe, Oysho, and interiors shop Zara Home.
His fortune of €60.9bn leaves his nearest 'rival' standing – second-richest man in Spain Rafael del Pino, president of transport and infrastructure company Ferrovial, is worth €8.6bn, less than a sixth of Ortega's wealth.
Del Pino's firm is in the top 10 highest-valued companies in the Ibex 35, Spain's answer to the FTSE 100 but, as expected, covering the first 35 rather than the first 100 with the highest capital value.
Mercadona supermarket chain owner and founder Juan Roig Alfonso is back in third place after a recent dip to fourth, with assets totalling €7.5bn, followed by low-cost clothing retailer Mango's owner Isak Andic Ermay, worth €4.5bn.
The Gestamp Corporation, an empire that continues to grow, spread across international borders and diversify, has made its shareholders Francisco and Jon Riberas Mera the fifth-richest men in Spain with a net worth of €3.2bn, whilst OHL chairman Juan Miguel Villar Mir is sixth-richest man in the country with a fortune valued at €2.7bn.
Thomas Andreas Meyer, who owns designer streetwear clothing label Desigual, is seventh with €2.5bn to his name but whose company is worth €3bn, which is why Víctor Grifols Roura, chairman of the firm Grifols is eighth with his fortune of €2.6bn.
He is just ahead of Fernando Masaveu Herrero, owner of the Masaveu Group and Veguín Group, and brothers Juan and Carlos March Delgado own the financial entity Banca March, and the Alba Corporation – joint ninth, their assets are valued at €2.4bn.
Finally, the 11th richest men are brothers Antonio and Jorge Gallardo Ballart, shareholders in Almirall with a net worth of €2.3bn and who have spoken out about the financial risks of the north-eastern region of Catalunya becoming an independent nation.
Within Forbes' top 100 richest Spanish residents are several entire families, rather than individual women and men, who either own companies or hold shares in large corporations.
NEW legislation aiming to protect the public from telephone scams and cold-calling is under construction, and will attempt to attack it at source by tightening up on commercial use of customers' personal data.
INTEREST rates in the Eurozone could fall to 2.5% next year, having closed August 2024 on 3.75%, according to latest research.
GRANTS of up to €250 are available this year for replacing older air-conditioning units in a bid to encourage greater energy efficiency.
TWO of Spain's largest high-street banks are reported to be in merger talks, potentially resulting in the joint entity being the second-biggest in the country in terms of share capital.