Amancio Ortega, left, has knocked renowned investor Warren Buffett, right, of his spot as the world's richest man after growing his fortune by £1m in a single day
Fashion tycoon Amancio Ortega, owner of clothing chain Zara, has toppled Warren Buffett in the place the world's third richest man, with a fortune of £30billion.
The 76-year-old Spaniard bumped the Oracle of Omaha off the podium after shares in his retail giant Inditex gained 3.8 percent yesterday to close at a record high, pushing his net worth up by around £1billion.
The news of the tycoon's fortune comes as Spain tries to cope with an unemployment level of nearly 20 percent and a beleaguered government which seems just days from asking for an European bailout.
With a fortune estimated now at £29.7billion, Mr Ortega narrowly pushes philanthropist Mr Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, who is worth an estimated £29.1billion, off third place.
Despite their enormous wealth, each of them would have to nearly double their personal wealth to take Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim's crown as the world's richest man.
Bloomberg Billionaires Index today estimated Mr Slim's net worth at £47.3billion. Microsoft founder Bill Gates sits comfortably in second place with £40billion.
But if Mr Ortega's wealth continues to grow, it may not be long before he's in contention for the top two spots.
His wealth has surged by 32 percent this year alone, despite a deep recession in his native Spain, where the government is resisting pressure to ask for a bailout from the European Central Bank.
That has been based on thephenomenal success of his company, which has grown its profits for 12 straight quarters after moving into emerging markets and reducing its dependence on Spain, where unemployment is above 20 percent.
The son of a railway worker, Mr Ortega was born in Busdongo de Arbás, León, and lived his childhood in León. Starting his career as a gofer in various shirt stores in La Coruña, Galicia, in 1972 he founded Confecciones Goa (his initials in reverse), which made bathrobes.
In 1975 he opened the first store in what would grow into the enormously popular chain of fashion stores called Zara.
Despite his great wealth - or perhaps because of it - Mr Ortega lives in a discreet apartment in La Coruna and is said to prefer to keep a very low profile.
Zara服装连锁店老总、时尚教主阿曼西奥•奥特加取代沃伦•巴菲特成为世界第三首富，身家达300亿英镑。
昨天，零售业巨头Inditex集团的股票上涨了3.8%, 其收盘价创历史新高，使得这位76岁的西班牙人财富净增约10亿英镑，将“奥马哈先知”巴菲特赶下了第三位宝座。
消息传来时，西班牙正竭力应对国内高达20%的失业率，而备受攻击的西班牙政府似乎离向欧盟请求紧急援助的日子也不远了。
据估计奥特加目前的财富约有297亿英镑，以微弱优势将资产291亿英镑的慈善家巴菲特挤出前三位。巴菲特现任伯克希尔•哈撒韦保险公司总裁。
不过尽管两人都拥有巨额财富，但要想坐上墨西哥电信巨头卡洛斯•斯林姆世界首富的宝座，还得把目前的个人财富翻倍才行。
据彭博亿万富翁指数今日估算，斯林姆的净资产达473亿英镑，微软创始人比尔•盖茨则以400亿英镑的身家稳坐第二首富宝座。
但如果奥特加的财富持续增长，也许要不了多久就能与以上两大巨头分庭抗礼。
只今年一年，奥特加的财富就疯长了32%，而此时他的祖国西班牙还处于深度危机之中。西班牙政府正在极力顶住压力，以免向欧洲央行寻求紧急援助。
奥特加的财富增长源于他的公司的巨大成功。Zara在挺进新兴市场后，连续12个季度盈利，逐步减少对失业率高达20%的西班牙国内市场的依赖。
奥特加是一名铁路工人的儿子，他在里昂的布斯东果-德-阿巴斯出生，并在那里度过了童年。他的第一份工作是衬衫店里打杂的小职员，他在加西利亚区拉 科鲁尼亚省的好几家衬衫店里都打过工。1972年，他创办了Confecciones Goa公司（Goa就是他姓名首字母缩写反向排列而成），主要制作睡袍。
1975年，他开了第一家专卖店，正是这家店后来成长为了极为流行的时装连锁店Zara。
尽管奥特加拥有巨额财富——或许正因如此——他住在拉科鲁尼亚一幢不起眼的公寓里，据说他更喜欢低调行事。
topple: 推翻
oracle: 先知，预言者
podium: 领奖台
beleaguered: 饱受诟病的，陷入困境的，四面楚歌的
bailout: 紧急救助
phenomenal: 非凡的，惊人的
gofer: 专司杂事的小职员
discreet: 朴素的，不引人注意的
keep a low profile: 保持低调