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Marta Ortega, getting into her father’s shoes at Inditex

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One big question is at hand Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer, for at least ten years: what happens when Amancio Ortega leaves?

The 85-year-old founder of Spain’s largest and most prestigious company resigned 10 years ago, but comes daily to their headquarters on the Atlantic coast and still plays a major role in the € 89bn giant, making him a leader. the richest man in the world.

Now the question has an answer: the Inditex board announced this week that, starting on April 1, Ortega’s 37-year-old daughter. March takes the seat of the owner of Zara.

The difference is very different from that of her estranged father, who started working as a store assistant at the age of 13, never giving an interview, usually wears his company stuff and refuses to be photographed until Inditex was mentioned in 2001. Marta’s appearance on fashion shows, French Riviera and Italians and interracial marriage have become very important Hello! and other popular magazines.

“She loves fashion, a world of beauty and integration,” says the Ortega Company, who studied at a Swiss boarding school and Regent’s University in London. “It’s something he possesses a lot.”

After a brilliant career in the organization for 15 years, Ortega introduced himself to the public interview and the Wall Street Journal in August, wearing costumes from the Zara and Massimo Dutti bands to pose for the next photo. “I will always be where the company needs me most,” he stated at the time.

Inditex staff and experts say Ortega follows his father where necessary. Like him, he avoids an office at the Inditex headquarters in an industrial area outside A Coruña, enjoying socializing with friends at the public desk. And like her, her biggest interest is Zara Woman’s contribution (Zara accounts for about 70 percent of Inditex sales).

“It’s a natural way for a father to give to his daughter this way: obviously the time has come and she has been doing more in the business than we thought,” says Anne Critchlow, a researcher at the Société Générale, of. Rise of Ortega. “She’s sitting under the radar.”

But critics see a well-known myth: the impatient follower of the business line leaves behind an expert who managed the team – meanwhile Pablo Isla, the outgoing chairman, whose Inditex market has expanded six times and has remained. hailed by Harvard Business Review as the world a very successful elder.

“It is a well-known story of Spanish companies – when it comes to the time when the second generation, which has been unpredictable, proves itself capable of running the business better than professionals,” said Lorenzo Bernaldo de Quirós, President of the Freemarket. Madrid planning.

The company vehemently denies the allegations, saying that Inditex will be run in line with Anglo-American lines, with the new CEO taking over the reins and its management committee gaining more power.

Critchlow added: “Marta did not assume Pablo. “Marta’s role is not great, while Pablo was the chairman.” He says sections fell due to the infiltration of Isla by the “unknown person”, not the arrival of Ortega.

Óscar García Maceiras, the new CEO, has been with Inditex since March and has had extensive experience with a lawyer. He will be the one to sell money to watch as Inditex seeks to increase its digital presence and stability.

But the rise of the Ortega is still a family affair, the two marriages that formed Inditex are the future of a very wealthy Spain and its leading brand. In fact, just as his election this week marks a turning point in the team, so too did his birth in 1984.

After Marta was born, Amancio was still married to his first wife, Rosalía Mera, who helped him start a clothing business that featured Inditex, making dresses and underwear. According to a life history of Mera, until her birth was unaware of her husband’s relationship with Flora Pérez, Marta’s mother.

Today, Pérez – Amancio’s second wife – represents 60 percent of the couple on the Inditex board and her two siblings, both of whom have been working for the group for years, running Zara and Massimo Dutti. Marta’s husband, Carlos Torretta, also works for Zara.com.

In contrast, Ortega’s older sister, Sandra, does not take part in the management of Inditex, but with Mera’s death in 2013 she entered Spain’s second-largest economy after Amancio himself – compared to. Forbes at € 6.3bn to € 67bn.

The company says Ortega will retain his position at Zara even if he succeeds in leading the Inditex team, while his mother and father remain.

“The two things are really intertwined,” said a neighbor. He also said that Inditex’s top executives – including relatives – are “a team of experienced professionals who have been around for years”.

Some do not believe. Says Bernaldo de Quirós: “It is best presented. The problem is, ten years later, you can still see that you are not Queen Mary. ”

daniel.dombey@ft.com

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