Amancio Ortega, the richest man in Spain, is expected to become the buyer of the future headquarters of Meta in Dublin. A gigantic real estate operation.
From our correspondent in Madrid, Francois Musseau
© MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP
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Qui will be the owner of the future headquarters of Meta (the group led by Mark Zuckerberg bringing together Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram) in Dublin, a gigantic complex of six buildings spread over 100,000 m2 and the 6,000 employees? According to the specialized media in Spain, it could very well be the first fortune of the country, Amancio Ortega, generally associated with ready-to-wear and not with real estate.
Endowed, according to the magazine Forbes, of a fortune amounting to 52 billion dollars, the president (retired since 2011, but still majority shareholder) of the textile group Inditex – of which Zara is the main standard, but which also aggregates Massimo Dutti, Bershka or Oysho – , the biggest celebrity in Galicia sets its sights more and more on the acquisition of emblematic buildings, well located and which have all the assets to project themselves in time.
XXL rent
If he got his hands on this Meta headquarters – the largest outside the United States and covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa – the boss of Zara would pocket 22 million euros in rent per year . It would strengthen its international projection in a sphere foreign to clothing. In reality, Amancio Ortega and his daughter Marta – a true business duo – have in recent years invested heavily in the purchase of assets hosting American “big tech”: Google in Madrid; Apple in Barcelona, Valencia or San Francisco; Amazon in America and Europe… As for the North American distribution giant, it has even taken over several major platforms, two of which were bought this year in a mega operation at amount of 940 million euros.
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Even if his textile companies continue to report well, Amancio Ortega now generates most of the profits from other sectors, according to him much more buoyant and juicy in the long term. These activities, which are less known to the general public, are carried out through its subsidiary Pontegadea, which invests massively in energy, infrastructure and therefore also real estate. In the entourage of Inditex, it is indicated that this last sector, which weighs 15 billion euros, is not necessarily the one that brings in the most, but it confers more fame, an image of seriousness and financial stability. , while generating stable and sustainable revenue. In total, the rents of high-tech buildings made it possible to garner 647 million euros in 2021 and, since April, this type of investment has reached 2.2 billion euros.
The philosophy does not change: ideally located buildings for cutting-edge companies, from FedEx, TJX to Nestlé. On the strength of its dividends, Amancio Ortega is also working to diversify its real estate fleet. As proof, at the beginning of October, he bought “19 Dutch”, a skyscraper in the heart of Manhattan and close to the World Trade Center for the trifle of 496 million euros, a 64-storey residential building which rents to a select clientele. Faithful to his legend since he set up his first Zara store in La Coruña in 1975, Amancio Ortega jealously cultivates his anonymity. But works energetically to ensure that his empire is as powerful and visible as possible.