Zara founder Ortega acquires five-star Paris hotel for $113 million

Fashion billionaire Amancio Ortega has acquired a hotel in Paris for €97 million ($113.5 million), marking the Zara founder’s second property deal in the French capital within a year.

Ortega’s family office, Pontegadea, purchased the five-star property from Derby Hotels, according to a spokesperson for the Spanish firm, confirming a report in the newspaper Expansión. The hotel is located in central Paris, near the Palais Garnier opera theater.

Pontegadea holds Ortega’s 59% stake in Inditex SA, the owner of Zara, and reinvests its dividends primarily in real estate. The family office also holds assets in the infrastructure and energy sectors.

Earlier this year, Ortega acquired an apartment building in Fort Lauderdale for about €165 million ($193.1 million) and an office property in Barcelona for €250 million ($292.5 million). In 2024, Pontegadea also purchased a commercial building in Paris for approximately €200 million ($234 million).

Now 89 years old, Ortega is set to receive more than €3 billion ($3.51 billion) in dividends from Inditex in a single year for the first time. He founded the company over five decades ago in northwestern Spain.

Pontegadea’s investment strategy focuses on high-end commercial and residential real estate, with activity concentrated in select cities across Western Europe, the United States and Canada. The firm rarely invests in hotels.

Inditex, the world’s largest clothing company, has a market value of €136 billion ($159.1 billion). Ortega’s personal fortune stands at about €103 billion ($120.5 billion), making him Spain’s wealthiest individual and the second richest in Europe, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

(€1 = $1.17)