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Meet the mysterious retail guru who just surpassed Bill Gates to become the world's richest man

Ashley LutzSep 9, 2016, 02:18 IST

Getty Images / Xurxo Lobato

Zara's mysterious founder, Amancio Ortega, just surpassed Bill Gates to become the richest man in the world.

Shares of the Spanish retailer's parent company, Inditex, rose 2.5%. That boosted Ortega's fortune to $79.5 billion, according to Forbes.

Bill Gates' net worth is $78.5 billion.

Despite Ortega's impressive net worth, many people have never heard of him.

The 80-year-old Spaniard fiercely guards his privacy and gives few interviews to the press.

Ortega founded fast-fashion giant Zara with his then-wife Rosalia in 1975. Today, his retail company Inditex SA - which owns Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Pull&Bear - has over 6,600 outposts around the world.