On Tuesday, Amancio Ortega added about 1.108 million euros to his wealth, receiving half of the dividends Inditex plans to distribute to its shareholders this year, with the remaining portion scheduled for November. In total, the founder of the Galician multinational is set to earn 2,217 million euros from dividends this year, the highest figure since Inditex’s public listing in 2021 and a milestone that underscores the scale of his stake and influence.
Since that year, Ortega has accrued 17,351 million euros in cumulative dividends, with 2,217 million expected this year alone—more than 500 million euros higher than the previous year, according to Inditex’s accounting disclosures to the National Securities Market Commission. Ortega’s earnings come from his control of Pontegadea Inversiones, which owns 59% of Inditex shares through a vehicle that also encompasses Partler Participaciones, the investment entity associated with Marta Ortega, Inditex’s current non-executive chair and vice-president, who is also Ortega’s daughter.
The trajectory of Ortega’s dividend income from Inditex began in 2002 with a modest 40 million euros. Since then the total has surpassed 17,000 million, marking a steady build-up of cash returns to the founder. The first year that he exceeded 100 million was 2004, with 129 million; 2011 saw his dividend pass 500 million for the first time at 591 million; 2016 marked the first time he crossed the 1,000 million threshold with 1,108 million; and 2023 witnessed the milestone of breaking the 2,000 million mark for the first time.
In the last six years, Ortega has accumulated half of Inditex’s total 17,000 million in dividends, reflecting his ownership through Pontegadea Inversiones and Partler Participaciones against a stake of about 1.848 billion Inditex shares. The dividend pattern shifted in 2020 when Inditex paused a regular coupon due to the pandemic, reducing the annual payout that year to 647 million. By comparison, the following year reached 1,626 million and then 1,294 million a year later, illustrating the volatility and eventual rebound of shareholder returns.
The second-largest shareholder in Inditex is Marta Ortega, Ortega’s daughter, who holds 5% of the company’s shares. Payments attributed to her stake include a portion of the 189 million euros in dividends designated for the year’s first payment, corresponding to 94 of the total dividends that will be distributed this year.
Inditex plans to reward shareholders with more than 3,730 million euros in total this year, reflecting a 29% increase in the dividend to 1.2 euros per share. The payout is distributed in two equal installments: an ordinary dividend of 0.60 euros per share already issued this Tuesday, and a second installment on 2 November of 0.60 euros per share, combining 0.196 euros of regular income with 0.404 euros of extraordinary income. This structure aligns with the company’s long-standing practice of semiannual distributions.
Over the years, Inditex and its founders have returned substantial sums to shareholders, with around 30,000 million euros distributed since 2002. Amancio Ortega alone has received 59% of this total, with Marta Ortega and then Sandra Ortega holding 5% each. The 5% share translates to approximately 1.478 million euros over two decades. All reported figures are gross, and income from dividends above 200,000 euros this year is taxed at 28%, up from 27% in 2022, reflecting ongoing changes in tax treatment of high-net-worth individuals.
real estate portfolio
The Galician entrepreneur reinvests much of the Inditex-derived cash into expanding his real estate portfolio, which now exceeds 15 billion euros in value. In 2022, his reported assets included 2,736 million euros in equity and related real estate investments, split between Inditex dividends and Pontegadea holdings. December 31 figures show thousands of expenditures aimed at growing this portfolio, with family offices like his subject to mandatory reinvestment of profits within a year to avoid additional tax charges.
Some dividends from this year have already been deployed. In early April, the acquisition of 120 luxury apartments in Dublin’s south quayside for more than 100 million euros marked the first purchase of 2023, signaling a brisk pace as the year’s record 2,217 million euros in Inditex dividends and Pontegadea’s 2022 gains begin to be realized publicly. Later, in mid-April, the group acquired the former BBC headquarters in London for around £82 million (about 93 million euros).