Spanish Billionaire Ortega Overtakes Bill Gates As Worlds Richest Man

Face of money: Ortega.

Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world.
It's Spanish clothing magnate Amancio Ortega,  79, who has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates for the first time ever.
According to Forbes' real-time tracker, the very reserved multibillionaire founder of European clothing retailer Zara dashed past Bill Gates to become the wealthiest person on the planet, with a fortune of $79.8 billion (€71.83 billion or £51.84 billion). 

The elusive Ortega isn't as popular as Bill Gates, but he's quietly ascended the wealth rankings in recent years, as his company continues to perform well and expand.

Interestingly, Ortega also has a very interesting and inspiring rags-to-riches story. Born in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, Ortega's father earned 300 pesetas a month, a meager salary.

Ortega's biographer described his memories of a childhood during which his family could not always afford enough food. He left school in his early teens, working his way up from the absolute bottom rung as a messenger boy in a shop.

It wasn't until he was 40 years old that Ortega got around to setting up Zara, the fast-fashion retailer that has gone from strength to strength — first growing in Spain, then neighbouring Portugal and France, then London. Now it's all over the globe.

According to Forbes, Ortega's wealth rose by 5.3%, another $4 billion, over the last 48 hours. That's partly down to a surge in Inditex shares, the parent company that owns Zara.

In the last 10 years, theMARKET value of Inditex has risen by about 570%, the main driver of Ortega's climb up the ranks.

Ortega's is very inspiring, especially because he didn't start Zara until he was forty. Today, he is the worlds richest man. Keep chasing your dream, there is more than enough time to make it come through.