The Amancio Ortega family office: Pontegadea Investments

The European fashion billionaire

Amancio Ortega began his career in the fashion industry as a 14-year-old boy, working as a shopboy for a local shirt manufacturer called Gala. He went on to become one of the world’s richest fashion retailers. In 1975 he founded Inditex with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera. Inditex has 8 brands in its portfolio, including Zara, Pull & Bear, and Massimo Dutti. Together, the holding company has more than 7,500 stores around the world. Thanks to its 60% stake in the company, Ortega receives an annual dividend of 400 million dollars. This has allowed him to amass a fortune of $130 billion, making him the second richest European.

Pontegadea Investments: The Ortega single family office

The Amancio Ortega Family Office is called Pontegadea Investments SL. The company’s main focus is on property investments around the world. Through Pontegadea Investments, Ortega has acquired the largest real estate portfolio among European billionaires, with properties in Barcelona, Madrid, London, Miami, Chicago, and New York. Already in 2017, the investment fund generated an income of €385 million in rents alone, making property investment a very safe way for Ortega to invest.

Focus on global real estate investments

The Amancio Ortega family office is a major landlord for many companies around the world. They acquired a significant portion of Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, worth more than US$740 million, making them Amazon’s largest landlord. Pontegadea also bought the Adelphi building in London for more than €680 million. In addition to their real estate investments, the family office is beginning to invest heavily in renewable energy.

An investment shift to Renewable Energy

Historically, Ortega’s family office has heavily invested in real estate, owning logistics centers, luxury properties, and office spaces across the U.S. and Europe. But last year Pontegadea, significantly increased its investments in renewable energy, nearly tripling its contributions to wind, solar, and other energy assets. Pontegadea invested €693 million in energy projects, up from €273 million in 2022, with a focus on Spain and France. By the end of 2023, it held minority stakes in 13 energy assets, primarily in Spain, through deals with energy company Repsol, as well as three French wind farms.

Source: Reuters 

Picture source: Florian Wehde via Unsplash