Zara founder becomes new richest person in the world

Amancio Ortega, the co-founder of Spanish retailing giant Inditex – parent company to fashion chain Zara - is now the richest person in the world, with a 200 million US dollars edge over previous number one Bill Gates.

Ortega is now worth an estimated 85 billion US dollars, according to Forbes' real-time rankings of the world's billionaires.

Amancio Ortega/Reuters photo‍

This 81-year-old has held the top position three other times, but always relinquished the lead within 24 hours with the fluctuation of share prices.

Ortega’s fortune has risen 117 percent since the 2012 debut of the Bloomberg index, compared with a 36 percent rise for Gates.

Gates, 61, who has pledged to give the majority of his fortune to charity, has donated Microsoft shares worth 35 billion US dollars since 1994. He made his largest gift since 2000 in June when he gave Microsoft shares valued at 4.6 billion US dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

(CGTN)