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Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega Neck-and-Neck for World's Richest

Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega Neck-and-Neck for World's Richest

In this July 28, 2012, photo, Amancio Ortega Gaona, founding shareholder of Inditex fashion group, best known for its chain of Zara clothing and accessories retail shops, uses his phone during the Casas Novas International Jumping Show in Arteixo, A Coruña, in the Galicia region of northwest Spain. (AP Photo/Iago Lopez)

By    |   Thursday, 31 August 2017 12:20 PM EDT

Bill Gates was edged out by Amancio Ortega as the world's richest person this week when the Microsoft founder's net worth slipped below that of the co-founder of Inditex, a Spanish retail giant that's the parent company to fashion juggernaut Zara.

Ortega was reportedly $200 million richer than Gates as of midday Wednesday, according to Forbes.

He passed Gates as the world's richest person on Tuesday after Inditex's shares rose 1 percent. However, that was short lived. Gates was yet again ahead of Ortega by $100 million by late Tuesday before Ortega moved to the top spot again.

This is not the first time Ortega has been the richest person in the world, but he's never held the top spot for more than two days, Forbes said.

Ortega passed Gates as the richest person in the world for the first time in October 2015, but Gates was back on top within 24 hours, according to Forbes. Ortega held the top spot again in September 2016, but Gates quickly regained the lead.

Ortega, 81, is now worth about $85 billion, according to Forbes.

Ortega left school at age of 14 and started his long career in fashion, working his way up from the bottom as a shop hand for a local shirt-maker, according to The Sun.

He went on to start his own fashion platform, Confecciones Goa, in 1972, selling handmade bathrobes. In 1975 Ortega's fashion career really took off after he and his then-wife opened his first Zara store.

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TheWire
Bill Gates was edged out by Amancio Ortega as the world's richest person this week when the Microsoft founder's net worth slipped below that of the co-founder of Inditex, a Spanish retail giant that's the parent company to fashion juggernaut Zara.
bill gates, amancio ortega, worlds, richest
251
2017-20-31
Thursday, 31 August 2017 12:20 PM
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