Fashion’s billion-dollar dividends, Zara owner cashes in
Amancio Ortega Gaona, Inditex founder Credits: Inditex, archive photo Inditex’s largest shareholder, Amancio Ortega, is set to receive a record dividend payout of 3.1 billion euros this year, according to Bloomberg. As the owner of a fifty-nine percent stake in the retail giant, the Zara founder has benefitted from a nine percent increase in shareholder returns. While billion-dollar dividends remain a rarity in the fashion industry, they are by no means unprecedented. The Wertheimer family's holding company for Chanel has received 12.4 billion dollars in dividends over the past three years, including 5.7 billion dollars in 2023, 1.7 billion dollars in 2022, and five billion dollars in 2021. The family behind Hermès has also reaped substantial rewards, with reported payouts exceeding five billion dollars, underscoring the luxury house’s continued financial strength. Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, along with his family, also received substantial dividends through their holdings in the company. Financière Agache, which controls a significant stake in LVMH, reported cash reserves of 15.5 billion euros, enabling substantial dividend distributions. In 2023, Financière Agache's net income was 2.55 billion euros, primarily from dividends received from Christian Dior SE and LVMH. Ortega, who typically reinvests the bulk of his dividends into real estate, according to Bloomberg, has built an extensive portfolio of commercial and residential properties across Western Europe, Canada, and the United States—a strategy that has helped cement his status as one of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
Inditex’s largest shareholder, Amancio Ortega, is set to receive a record dividend payout of 3.1 billion euros this year, according to Bloomberg. As the owner of a fifty-nine percent stake in the retail giant, the Zara founder has benefitted from a nine percent increase in shareholder returns.
While billion-dollar dividends remain a rarity in the fashion industry, they are by no means unprecedented. The Wertheimer family's holding company for Chanel has received 12.4 billion dollars in dividends over the past three years, including 5.7 billion dollars in 2023, 1.7 billion dollars in 2022, and five billion dollars in 2021.
The family behind Hermès has also reaped substantial rewards, with reported payouts exceeding five billion dollars, underscoring the luxury house’s continued financial strength.
Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, along with his family, also received substantial dividends through their holdings in the company. Financière Agache, which controls a significant stake in LVMH, reported cash reserves of 15.5 billion euros, enabling substantial dividend distributions. In 2023, Financière Agache's net income was 2.55 billion euros, primarily from dividends received from Christian Dior SE and LVMH.
Ortega, who typically reinvests the bulk of his dividends into real estate, according to Bloomberg, has built an extensive portfolio of commercial and residential properties across Western Europe, Canada, and the United States—a strategy that has helped cement his status as one of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
