The 10 Richest People in Spain 2022
No matter where you live in the world, society is divided by financial status. Some people struggle to get by on a daily basis, while others have more money than most people can dream of having. Those who are on the higher end of the financial pecking order have accrued their money in various ways. Some have started businesses from scratch, and others have progressed up the career ladder to reach the top in their chosen careers. There are also those who are rich because they have inherited family money. So, who are the richest people in Spain, and how did they make their money? Here are the 10 richest people in Spain in 2022 by net worth in U.S. dollars.
10. Maria Del Pino, $2.5 Billion
Maria Del Pino has accrued a net worth of $2.5 billion, which makes her the tenth richest person in Spain and the third richest Spanish woman. She has previously ranked in higher positions, as she was the 1196th richest woman in the world in 2020 but is now only the 1238th richest woman.
Del Pino’s wealth comes from inheriting a 9% stake in her late father’s company Ferrovial S.A., which he founded in 1952. The company designs, constructs, finances, operates and maintains transport infrastructure and urban services, including managing highways and airports such as Heathrow Airport in London. Del Pino’s brother, Rafael, is the CEO of the company. Ferrovial trades on the Madrid stock exchange. Maria Del Pino became a member of the board in 2006. In addition to her work with the company, Del Pino is also the chairman of the family’s charitable foundation, which is called Fundacion Del Pino. She is married with three children.
9. Isak Andic & Family, $2.6 Billion
Although he is Spanish, Isak Andic was born in Istanbul, Turkey, but his family moved to Barcelona, Spain, when he was a child. In his teens, Andic started selling clogs and hand-embroidered T-shirts with his brother, Nahman. With his brother, Andic opened shops in Madrid and Barcelona. T first, they were selling their own brand of jeans, but they then began selling other brands. When fellow entrepreneur Enric Cusi joined the team, they renamed the stores Mango. The choice of name is because the fruit is called the same thing in every language. Mango now has 2,400 stores in 107 countries.
In addition to his business interests in the fashion retail industry, Andic also has interests in the financial services sector. He was appointed the director of Banco Sabadell, a Spanish multinational financial services company, in 2012. Andic, who lives in Barcelona, was married to Neus Raig Tarrago, with whom he has three children, although they are now divorced. His oldest son, Jonathan, was named his successor in 2012. Andic’s oldest daughter, Judith, works for Mango, and he also has a younger daughter, Sarah. Following his divorce, Andic was in a relationship with Catalan stylist Zenaida Bufill Comadran.
8. Alicia Koplowitz, $2.7 Billion
Alicia Koplowitz is the eighth richest person in Spain, the second richest Spanish woman, and the 1163rd richest person in the world. She had previously ranked higher on the Forbes billionaire’s list, ranking highest in 2018 when she was in the 822nd position. Her wealth dropped from $2.8 billion last year to her current net worth of $2.7 billion. Koplowitz originally became wealthy after inheriting a stake in her father’s construction company in the 1960s. Her father founded the construction company de Foemnto de Construcciones y Contratas. However, Koplowitz sold her stake in the company to her sister in 1997 for $800 million.
Since then, Koplowitz has expanded her wealth by putting money into diverse investments. Some of the companies in which she has invested include Banco Sabadell, electric utility company Iberdrola, and steelmaker Acerinox. Alicia Koplowitz has also become involved in the travel and tourism industry and real estate. She has properties in Chicago and Washington D.C., owns hotels in Miami and Italy, and has a stake in the Spanish luxury hotel chain Hospes, which was founded by her middle son.
In addition to being a businesswoman, Koplowitz is also a philanthropist who founded a charitable foundation that sends Spanish fellows to study child psychiatry in the United States and the UK. She is also an aristocrat, bearing the title of the Marchioness of Bellavista. Koplowitz was married to Spanish businessman Alberto Cortina from 1969 to 1990, and they have three sons together. She had a relationship with a Spanish aristocrat between 2004 and 2006 but has been in a relationship since 2012 with Miguel Pais do Amaral, Count of Alferrarede, a Portuguese businessman and aristocrat.
Despite her vast wealth, Alicia Koplowitz chooses to keep a low profile. Other than events relating to her charitable foundation, the businesswoman is hardly seen on the social circuit. She doesn’t even splash her cash when traveling for business, as she opts to fly on commercial airlines.
7. Juan Abello, $2.9 Billion
Although Juan Abello is only in position 1053 on the list of the world’s richest people, he is the sixth-richest Spanish person with a net worth of $2.9 billion. While other people on the billionaires list have seen ups and downs in recent years, Abello’s wealth has remained static at $2.9 billion since 2020. He currently ranks in the 1053rd position of billionaires worldwide. Juan Abello was born in Madrid in 1941, and his father was a pharmacist. He followed in his father’s footsteps, studying for a degree in pharmacy and then a doctorate in pharmacy at the Complutense University of Madrid.
Before completing his doctorate, Abello became the Managing Director of Antibiotics, S.A., which is the pharmaceutical company his father founded in 1919. Abello sold the company and other family pharma assets in 1986 to Montedison. However, he retained Alergia e Immunologia Abello, S.A. and Alcaloides, S.A. After selling most of the family pharmaceutical businesses, Juan Abello started on a new career path. He founded Torreal, a family-owned global investment firm, in 1990. It now has more than 25 portfolio companies that span various industries and locations.
One way that Abello spends his money is by investing in art, and his art collection consists of around 500 works. His collection includes pieces by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Edgar Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Francisco Goya, Vincent van Gogh, and El Greco. In his personal life, Juan Abello is married to Ana Isabel Gamazo y Hohenlohe-Lagenburg, and they have four children. His hobbies include watching bullfighting and going hunting.
6. Spain’s Richest Grocer: Juan Roig Alfonso $3.5 Billion
Juan Roig Alfonso is the sixth richest Spaniard in the world, with a net worth of $3.5 billion, meaning he is the 825th richest person in the world. He can also claim he is the richest grocer in Spain. His net worth has dropped since 2021 when he was worth $4.4 billion.
Roig’s family owned eight butcher shops in Spain, which Roig and three of his five brothers bought from his parents in 1981, changing them to grocery stores. By 1991, Roig had largely bought out his brothers. He then began building the Mercadona supermarket chain that operates on the ethos of competitive pricing and technological innovations. The successful supermarket chain now has more than 1,400 stores. Juan Roig is married to Hortensia Herrero, who was on last year’s list of the ten richest people in Spain. His wife has slipped into 11th position this year. She owns 28% of the Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona. Herrero also helped her husband to accrue his wealth. The couple has four children.
5. Daniel Mate, $3.6 Billion
With a net worth of $3.6 billion, Daniel Mate is the fifth-richest person in Spain. However, his wealth lands him in a position of only 822nd on the Forbes list of the richest billionaires in the world.
Mate has a degree in law and another in economics, both from the University of Deusto. He began working for the commodities company Marc Rich & Co., which later became Glencore, in 1988. By 2000, Mate was co-directing the zinc, copper, and lead commodity department for the company. He retired in 2020 but still owns just over 3% of the London-listed company. Although he is Spanish, Mate lives in the Swiss canton Schwyz as Glencore has its headquarters in Baar, Switzerland. He is married with two children.
4. Miguel Fluxa Rossello, $3.6 Billion
Miguel Fluxa Rosello has seen some ups and downs in his wealth in recent years. He was at his richest in 2018, when he had a net worth of $4.4 billion and ranked as the 480th richest person in the world. Over the next two years, his wealth dipped and was at its lowest in 2020, when his net worth was only $2.2 billion. In 2021 it rose to $1.6 billion, and the businessman is currently worth $3.6 billion.
Fluxa Rosello became wealthy as a third-generation heir to a shoemaking business. However, he became a billionaire in the travel and tourism industry. He is the sole owner of Group Iberostar, which has 100 resorts and hotels across 16 countries. Fluxa Rosello is married to Sabina Thienemann, and they have two daughters, Sabina and Gloria.
3. Rafael Del Pino y Calvo-Sotelo, $4.1 Billion
Rafael Del Pino y Calvo-Sotelo is the son the late Rafael del Pino Moreno, who founded the infrastructure operator and construction firm Ferrovial in 1952. He was the CEO of Grupa Ferrovial from 1992 to 1999, then became the executive chairman. It is through Ferrovial that Rafael Del Pino y Calvo-Sotelo has accrued his wealth, and he currently holds approximately 20% of the company. His current net worth is $4.1 billion, and he is the 709th richest billionaire in the world.
2. The Richest Woman in Spain: Sandra Ortega Mera, $5.8 Billion
With a net worth of $5.8 billion, Sandra Ortega Mera is the second richest person in Spain, the richest Spanish woman, and the 438th richest person in the world. Ortega’s position on the list of the richest billionaires has consistently dropped over the last four years. The heiress’ position on the Forbes billionaires list was at its highest in 2018 when she ranked in the 237th position.
Her wealth comes from the fashion industry. Her parents, Amancio Ortego and Rosalie Mera, founded the clothing giant Inditex, which is known for its Zara retail chain. On her mother’s death, Ortega inherited a 7% stake in the company. Ortega is married to Pablo Gomez, with whom she has three children, and she lives in A Coruna, Spain. In her free time, Ortega works with Fundacion Paideia Galiza, which is the foundation founded by her mother for people with mental and physical disabilities. Ortega’s brother was born with cerebral palsy.
1. The Richest Person in Spain: Amancio Ortego, $59 Billion
The richest person in Spain is Amancio Ortego, with a net worth of $59 billion. Despite being Spain’s richest person, Ortega’s wealth has dropped significantly in recent years, as it previously exceeded $70 billion. Between 2018 and 2020, Ortego ranked sixth on the list of billionaires for three consecutive years. He is currently the third richest person in Europe, and Ortego doesn’t even come close to the top of the list of the richest billionaires in the world. The top three are Elon Musk with $219 billion, Jeff Bezos with $171 billion, and Bill Gates with a net worth of $129 billion.
Amancio Ortega has made his wealth in the clothing retail industry. In 1975, Ortego co-founded Inditex with his first wife, Rosalie Mera, with whom he has three children, including Sandra Ortego. The company is known for its Zara fashion chain. It has eight brands, including Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti. There are currently around 7,500 stores across the globe. In addition to his interests in the fashion and retail industries, Ortego has also invested dividends into real estate in locations such as Barcelona, Madrid, New York, Miami, London, and Chicago.
