Jorge Hinojosa
MARTA Ortega has taken over as chairwoman of global fashion giant Inditex and will be earning an annual salary of €1million.
The 38-year-old started out in the business created by her father Amancio Ortega as a shop assistant and had to work her way up learning the ropes along the way.
But when she took over at the helm on April 1, replacing Pablo Isla as chair of the group which includes fashion brands Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear and Berksha, her annual salary was revealed to be €900,000 as non-executive chairperson and €100,000 as a member of the board.
She had long been considered in line to take over from her father, who is now 86 and is Spain’s richest man.
Inditex was founded by Ortega and his then-wife, Rosalia Mera, in 1975 in Galicia, in northwestern Spain and now boasts more than 6,000 stores worldwide.
Last week it took the decision to close its more than 500 stores in Russia in protest at the invasion of Ukraine.
This will be one of the first challenges facing Marta when she takes over as the Russian market represents Inditex’s second largest after Spain.
It employs 9,000 staff within Russia and contributes around 10% of the global operating profit.
Inditex warned consumers to expect its prices to rise by up to 2% in Spain and Portugal this year.
READ MORE:
- Spanish fashion retailer Inditex known for brands like Zara and Bershka says prices will rise by 2%
- Spanish retail giant Inditex closes 502 stores in Russia over Ukraine invasion
