Ortega has a 59.29 percent stake in Inditex that is valued at 62.3 billion euros (68.6 billion U.S. dollars).
He has overtaken Microsoft`s Bill Gates whose fortune rose to 78.1 billion U.S. dollars on Friday morning.
Inditex operates eight brands including Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterque. It has around 6,746 stores in 88 different markets and employs 140,000 people.
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