Rosalía Mera | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 15 August 2013 A Coruña, Galicia, Spain | (aged 69)
Known for | Co-founder of Inditex |
Spouse | [1] |
Children | 2; including Sandra Ortega Mera |
Website | Official website |
Rosalía Mera Goyenechea (28 January 1944 – 15 August 2013) was a Spanish businesswoman and entrepreneur. At the time of her death, she was the richest woman in Spain [1] and the world's richest self-made woman. [2] In 1975, she co-founded the Zara retail chain with her then-husband Amancio Ortega Gaona. The company grew to become the world's largest fashion retailer. [3]
Rosalia Mera Goyenechea was born in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain on 28 January 1944. [3] She dropped out of school at age eleven to work as a sales assistant in a clothing shop. [1] [4]
Mera began designing gowns and lingerie in her home with her then-husband, Amancio Ortega Gaona. The couple opened the first Zara store in 1975 in A Coruña. [4] Eventually the couple parlayed their work into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Zara's success was in part due to its strategy of imitating popular fashions and quickly making them for sale at inexpensive prices. [3]
Ten years after the opening of the first Zara store, Inditex was established as a holding company for the couple's businesses. [4] Inditex now comprises multiple fashion companies, of which Zara is the flagship. [1] The company also owns the retailers Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Uterque and Zara Home. [5] Inditex now has over 6000+ stores in over 86 countries [3] and over 120,000 employees. [5] Despite her 1986 divorce from Ortega, [1] Mera retained a 7% stake in the company. [6]
Mera also owned interests in a company which made fingerprinting identification kits for newborns [7] and another company, Zeltia, which carries out research into cancer fighting compounds of both synthetic and natural origin and particularly those bioactive compounds originating in the ocean. [7] [8]
According to the 2013 Forbes billionaire list, Mera was the world's wealthiest self-made female entrepreneur, with a net worth of over $6 billion. She was the second-wealthiest person from Spain, [7] second only to her ex-husband.
Mera opposed conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's plans to make Spain's abortion laws more restrictive. [5] She also opposed austerity cutbacks to Spain's national healthcare and education programmes. [5]
Mera established the Paideia Foundation which works with groups in risk of social exclusion. [7] [9]
Mera married Amancio Ortega Gaona in 1966. [4] The couple had a daughter, Sandra in 1968. [4] and also had a son, Marcos in 1971, who was born with cerebral palsy. [7] The couple divorced in 1986.
On 14 August 2013, Mera was admitted to a hospital in Menorca in an ‘irreversible situation’ after suffering a stroke. The family had been on holiday in Menorca. Mera died on 15 August 2013 in A Coruña. She had been transferred by plane to the port city and then by ambulance to the Hospital San Rafael de A Coruña where she later died of complications. [10] [11] Inditex confirmed Mera's death on 16 August 2013, [12] stating "The group wishes to send its sincere condolences to her loved ones and friends at this extremely difficult time, after the loss of a person who contributed so much to the origins and development of the company." [1] She was buried in the cemetery of the church of Santa Eulalia of Liáns, in Oleiros ( A Coruña). [13]
Her daughter Sandra Ortega Mera inherited her wealth, and became Spain's richest woman with a net wealth of $6.1 billion. [14]