FASHION tycoon and Spain's richest man Amancio Ortega has just bought the iconic Royal Bank Plaza twin towers in Toronto, Canada, for a cool €800 million, according to sources from the family firm.
Ortega, 86, started off the Inditex clothing empire - of which Zara is the star brand - as a humble tailor's and boutique in Ourense, Galicia, with his late first wife Rosalía Mera, and now is nearly always near the top of the Forbes list, Europe's wealthiest individual and, on at least one occasion, had more money to his name than anyone else in the world.
Whilst most of the Ortega family turnover comes from the rag trade, Amancio also has a property investment firm on the side, Pontegadea, through which he has bought several high-profile commercial buildings worldwide – including in Spain, the UK, the USA and Asia - for multiple millions.
In fact, Pontegadea is, by capital, the largest estate agency in Spain, but only focuses on business premises, not residential.
The latest acquisition in the heart of Toronto's financial district is home to the Royal Bank's headquarters – the largest banking firm in Canada – and was bought via estate agency Oxford Properties for CA$1.15 billion, or just over €803m.
It is the third commercial property Pontegadea has purchased in Canada – the first, in 2014, was also in Toronto, and the second, in 2016, is an historical building in one of the main shopping streets in Montréal, capital of the French-speaking province of Québéc.
This latest building, though, is somewhat unusual: The Royal Bank Plaza towers are completely coated in gold; just buying the rendering, never mind the actual building, would have been a massive and worthwhile investment.
Or it certainly would be if we were talking about solid gold armour plating from ground floor to the 41st storey of the South Tower, or even the 26th storey of the North Tower.
In practice, the gold is merely glass tint, but it's real: A total of 71 kilos of this precious metal was used to colour the 14,000 windows in the towers – the South being 180 metres high (590 feet) and the North, 114 metres (374 feet) – with each single window pane costing CA$70 when it was built.
Given that this was nearly 45 years ago, the CA$980,000 (€684,000) it would have cost in the late 1970s to buy all the gold-infused windows for the entire building would, with inflation, mean these alone would come at a price of CA$4.2m, or just over €2.9m.
Luckily for Amancio Ortega's customers worldwide, they do not need to be multi-millionaires with the cash to invest in gold towers to shop in his stores: Zara is the most famous, present in dozens of countries, offering low-budget, quality classics and wardrobe staples in a wide array of colours and, despite its very affordable price tags, is loved by Royalty and celebrities.
A slightly cheaper version for a younger audience, Bershka, a low-cost 'rock-chick' chain, Stradivarius, a streetwear brand on a budget, Pull&Bear, and a 'Primark-style' basics store, Lefties, are all within the reach of nearly everyone's purse-strings.
For those who prefer to shop in the mid-upper end of the high street, Massimo Dutti's demure, timeless classics, and Uterqüe's elegant office and evening wear are a notch above the younger fashions labels Inditex produces.
Although Zara fashions are low-cost, the interiors chain Zara Home is more up-market, adding a touch of chic to any household and always appreciated as thoughtful Christmas and birthday gifts.
Inditex also has an underwear chain, Oysho, with a broad span of lingerie and nightwear on sale, from practical and comfortable through to lacy and glamorous, all at affordable prices.
Somehow, the entire formula seems to work; through the years of the financial crisis and, more recently, the pandemic, Inditex has remained in profit and even seen its earnings soar when others in the industry fought to stay afloat.
The clothing empire finished 2021 with record figures – net earnings totalled an eye-watering 273% of those of 2020, leaving the company worth just under €9.6bn, a number it has never seen before.
And in the third quarter of the year, Inditex smashed its own historic sales record, raking in over €19.3bn, or 37% more than in the same three months in 2020.
Amancio's daughter Marta, 38, was elected as company chairwoman in late November 2021 – a rôle she now has to balance with being mum to Amancio Junior, nine, and toddler Matilda, who will be two at the end of March.
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