Spanish retailer Inditex, the parent company of Zara, has surpassed the US $ 109 billion valuation mark, making it the most valuable company in Spain, well ahead of Telefonica SA, Banco Santander SA, Swedish retailer H&M (market cap: US $ 58.6 billion) and Nike, with a market cap of US $ 86.2 billion.
Over the past few years, Inditex, which also owns Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Stradivarius and attributes 2/3rd of its revenue to Zara, has continued to steadily grow sales across its brands, up to 8% overall in 2014. It also continues to expand its store fleet in new and existing markets, though less aggressively than its competitor H&M, which since the beginning of 2013 has averaged more than one store opening per day.
Earlier this year, with an estimated net worth of US $ 72.9 billion, Amancio Ortega – the founder of Inditex, became the second richest person in the world, behind only Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
