Inditex, the Spanish textile giant, has announced a strategic move by taking a stake in Galy, a US-based startup founded in 2019 by Sam Altman, widely known as the creator of ChatGPT. Galy is pursuing an innovative laboratory-grown cotton cultivation process intended to produce sustainable material. This investment underscores Inditex’s commitment to sustainability and ongoing innovation in its supply chain.
During a general shareholders meeting held in Arteixo, Galicia, the group’s CEO, Óscar García Maceiras, revealed the news and reiterated the company’s focus on sustainable practices and forward-looking innovation. He pointed to Galy’s approach as a key component of Inditex’s broader strategy to improve the environmental footprint of its raw materials.
García Maceiras highlighted the overarching goal: by 2030, 100 percent of Inditex’s raw materials and fibers should come from more sustainable sources. By the end of 2023, more than half of the raw materials used in its collections originated from recycled materials or organic or regenerative farming practices, illustrating early progress toward that objective.
García Maceiras explained that achieving this transformation requires both innovation and collaboration. He cited other partnerships, including an agreement with the Finnish company Infinited Fiber to procure recycled textile fiber, as part of a broader ecosystem of sustainable material initiatives.
Galy’s own description on its website frames the startup as an effort to save the planet through cellular agriculture, presenting a method to cultivate cotton artificially from plant cells. Founded in the spring of 2019, the company weathered the 2020 pandemic but established its first owned laboratory and later received recognition from the H&M Foundation for its work.
Galy has expanded its presence in the United States and Brazil, growing from eight to more than fifty employees. It has also earned accolades in LVMH’s innovation awards in the sustainability category, reinforcing its rising profile within the fashion and luxury sector.
Marta Ortega underscores the company’s soul as the driver of success
In the previous year’s General Meeting, the word that defined the speech of the chairwoman, Marta Ortega, was magic. This time, the emphasis was on soul. Ortega used that term eight times in a talk that lasted just over five minutes, arguing that the company’s soul, embodied by its more than 160,000 employees, is the engine of Inditex’s success. She began by recalling that in 2023 the company’s resilience enabled it to meet the major challenges posed by a complex global environment.
“We firmly believe that the key to facing these challenges is not invention alone, but the same force that brought us here—the soul of this company,” she asserted. “A soul shaped by more than 160,000 people who look to the future while learning from the past. A soul marked by contrasts that define it. A soul that fills us with pride.”
As in prior years, Ortega again highlighted the people who work for Inditex, the living embodiment of the company’s soul, and the continuity provided by both new hires and long-serving staff. “We believe in our people, both those who recently joined and those who have spent their entire careers with us. That is the soul that started with the founder and that has kept the company alive through all those who have nourished and grown it. With that soul we move forward,” she stated.
At the end of her remarks she acknowledged Anne Lange, who is stepping down from the board at the end of July after a four-year term, a period that the meeting will shorten to two for new directors. Neither the chair nor the chief executive, Óscar García Maceiras, commented on the recent departure of Pablo del Bado, head of Pull&Bear, after a 45-year tenure with the group.
In his presentation, Maceiras emphasized Inditex’s role as a driver for its suppliers, noting more than 6,000 suppliers in Spain who collectively billed nearly 6.9 billion euros, and highlighting the company’s contribution to employment: over 155,000 jobs in Spain, counting direct, indirect, and induced roles, with Galicia accounting for about 78,000 positions.
New board members
As is customary, the General Meeting of Inditex shareholders, which lasted 88 minutes, proceeded smoothly with the ten items of the agenda approved by the majority. Amancio Ortega holds a substantial stake, close to 60 percent of the share capital.
Shareholders approved the appointment of Belén Romana, the former president of Sareb, as an independent director, and renewed Denisse Kingsmill in the same capacity. Flora Pérez was approved as an alternate director representing Pontegadea, the investment vehicle owned by Amancio Ortega. The change follows a three-year modification to the corporate law requiring directors of listed companies to be individuals, prompting Inditex to appoint a non-executive director in that role.
Accounts for the past year were approved, marking the best year in Inditex’s history with profits surpassing 5 billion euros and revenue approaching 36 billion euros, nearly 100 times the daily figure. Shareholders also authorized a dividend payment for 2023 totaling 1.54 euros per share, the first installment having been paid on May 2 and the second scheduled for November 4. The total payout reached 4.8 billion euros, the largest in the company’s history, with Amancio Ortega receiving 2.844 billion euros of that amount.
In the Arteixo headquarters, 289 shareholders attended in person, and 4,438 participated in the meeting, representing 89.65 percent of the share capital. The session stood as a quiet, orderly gathering that reflected the stable governance style typical of Inditex’s annual meetings.
—Citation: Inditex annual general meeting report, Arteixo, 2025; company communications and investor relations statements.