Five Spaniards drop out of ‘Forbes’ list

Five Spaniards have dropped out of Forbes magazine’s world billionaires list, although the owner of clothing giant Zara remains among the top five.

Amancio Ortega, whose Inditex retail fashion empire also includes other brands such as Bershka, Oysho and Massimo Dutti, slid down from third to fourth place with a net worth of $64.5 billion.

The textile tycoon from Galicia was bettered by Microsoft founder Bill Gates ($79.2 billion), Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim ($77.1 billion) and US investor Warren Buffett, who pushed his way up to third place with $72.7 billion.

As of Forbes’ latest estimate, 21 Spaniards feature in the top 500 list of global fortunes, compared with 26 a year before.

The Spaniards who made the list represent a joint fortune of $116.3 billion, less than the previous figure of $121.6 billion.

Besides Amancio Ortega, the wealthiest Spaniards, according to Forbes, are his eldest daughter Sandra Ortega Mera ($6.4 billion); constructor Juan Miguel Villar Mir ($5.6 billion); Juan Roig, owner of the Mercadona supermarket chain ($5.3 billion); and Isak Andic, founder of another fashion giant, Mango ($4.8 billion). Juan Roig’s wife, Hortensia Herrero, newly joins the list because of her share in Mercadona.

Pushed out of the list this year are Francisco José and Juan María Riberas Mera, of the Gestamp steel company; Leopoldo del Pino, of infrastructure builder and manager Ferrovial; El Corte Inglés founder Isidoro Álvarez, who died last year; José María Aristrain, founder of steelmaker Arcelor, and real estate entrepreneur Enrique Bañuelos.