1. Amancio Ortega (Net Worth: $72.5 billion)
Amancio Ortega is the third richest person in the world with $72.5 billion of estimated net worth. He gained his fortune from founding a fashion retail company, Zara. He did that in 1975. And less than a decade since then, he expanded throughout Spain. Then in late 1990s, it finally went global.
Zara is probably not as popular as other fashion brands. In fact, I bet there are only a few of us who have actually seen Zara’s ad. That is because Amancio has his own marketing strategy with limited advertising.
Today, his retail company has grown into several brands, such as Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, and of course, Zara. They are all under one company he runs, Inditex. And it is generating more than $25 billion of sales revenue every year.
Before founding Zara, he was living a hard-knock life with his father who worked as a railway worker. He had to leave school and work to help his father make a living. His first encounter with the world of fashion began as he worked as a shop hand for a local shirt maker.
These fifteen stories should inspire you to work hard if you want to reach your dreams. There is no such thing as luck, and there is no such thing as talent either. Combined with patience and intelligence, hard work is the only key to success.
