Four women are among the ten richest people in Spain

This week Forbes published its famous list of the 100 richest Spaniards of 2024. In it, only 25% of positions are held by women. That is, only every fourth millionaire is a woman. The greatest wealth in our country continues to be predominantly male, the result of family heritage, business initiative, investment experience and tradition.

However, women are becoming stronger, and while last year they accumulated a fortune of almost 47 billion euros, this year their global wealth has increased by more than 6 billion euros, reaching a total of 53,065 million euros, according to Forbes magazine.

Here are the four women who are among the ten richest people in Spain: Sandra Ortega, number 2; Maria del Pino, number 7; Hortensia Herrero, number 8, and Sol Daurella, number 10.

Sandra Ortega

Shareholder Inditex, Galicia

10,400 million euros (+3,300 million euros)

The daughter of Amancio Ortega and Rosario Mera, the businessman’s first wife who died in 2013, is currently Spain’s second richest person, repeating the same position on this list as in previous years, thanks to the same company that made Amancio Ortega rich. his father: Inditex. Her fortune is largely tied to a textile firm of which she is the second-largest shareholder. He controls this participation through the holding company Rosp Corunna, a company from which he also manages other investments. Sandra is also a renowned philanthropist. As with his father, his assets grew mainly due to the revaluation of Inditex. Sandra is active in tourism in Comporta, Portugal, where she has million-dollar investments.

His fortune, largely consisting of an inheritance received after the death of his mother, is kept in holding company Rosp Coruna of which three of his children (Martin (25 years old), Antia (23 years old) and Uzia Gomez Ortega (19 years old)) are already on the board of directors: more 7.1 billion euros of assetsbetween real estate assets, stakes in other companies and control of a 5.05% stake in Inditex. Andra is married to her longtime boyfriend, former classmate Pablo Gomez. She is very active in charity work. She was born in 1968 and received a degree in psychology from the University of Santiago de Compostela. Born in May 1971 his brother Marcos suffers from cerebral palsy.

Maria del Pino Calvo-Sotelo

President of the Rafael del Pino Foundation, Madrid

€3.2 billion (+€700 million)

Maria del Pino is the sister of Rafael del Pino and the president of the Rafael del Pino Foundation, named after her father. She owes her fortune to being the second-largest shareholder of Ferrovial (8%), an infrastructure company headed by her brother. As a businesswoman, she also has shares in other companies, such as Menosmares SL, as well as Altais Investment SICAV, of which she is almost 100% owner. He ranks seventh on the list of richest people.

Like Sandra Ortega, the president of the Rafael del Pino Foundation is extremely reserved. In one of the few interviews that Maria gave to the Fuera de Serie app, the philanthropist said that her father once invited her to dinner to encourage her to start this idea. With an economics degree, Maria flirted with journalism and politics (she worked at UCD), but after getting married and spending time in the United States, she devoted herself to her three children and a development aid NGO. “I was thrilled that he had me and, above all, that he still wanted to create something new, despite the fact that he would soon be 80 years old,” said the president of the Rafael del Pino Foundation. institution, which is now 23 years old.

Maria is the firstborn of the Pino clan, consisting of five siblings: Maria (68), Rafael (65), Joaquin (63), Leopoldo (61) and Fernando (54). Mary, perhaps because she is the firstborn, perhaps because she is the only woman, is the one who supports the alliance between brothers who have little contact with each other.

Hortensia Herrero

Shareholder Mercadona, Valencia

3200 million euros (+1000 million euros)

Hortensia Herrero ranks eighth on the list of richest people. She is the wife of Juan Roig and together with him owns most of Mercadona. Together they control almost 80% of the shares through Inmo-Alameda SL and Herrecha Inversiones SL. In addition, he heads the foundation that bears his name, through which he develops projects for the development of culture and art. Among them, the Hortensia Herrero Arts Center stands out, inaugurated in November 2022, a monumental project costing 40 million euros.

His daughter, the architect Amparo Roig, has transformed Valeriola’s 17th-century palace into a center for contemporary art, where she exhibits her private collection, which includes works by Hockney, Eliasson, Kiefer, Baselitz, Kapoor and Chillida. In its first year of existence, it was visited by 200,000 people. “My aunt created a wonderful cultural landmark in Valencia, which in a few months has already become a benchmark in our city,” he said. Forbes Women his niece, collector Emma Roig.

The owners of Mercadona have four daughters – twins Hortensia and Carolina, Amparo and Juana – and eleven grandchildren. The Roigs family is an incomprehensible family: Juan is the sixth of seven brothers: Paco, Amparo, Trinidad, Vicente (died at 17 from a brain tumor), Fernando, Juan and the youngest, Alfonso (disabled, died in 2020 at 65). “The love for the weakest that my grandmother instilled in us was one of the strongest bonds in the family,” says Emma. All of them, along with their children and grandchildren, form a tribe of 108 people who meet every Christmas to eat at the Villarreal soccer field, a club chaired by another brother, Fernando Roig, who also owns the soccer company Pamesa Ceramics. .

Sol Daurella Comadran

President of Coca-Cola Eupacific Partners, Catalonia

3,000 million euros (+ 1,000 million euros)

Daurella is the President of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, one of the largest multinational corporations of the Coca-Cola group. The company has seen its stock market rise nearly 17% this year, propelling Sol Daurella up six positions with a $1,000 million capital increase. The participation in Coca-Cola Europacific Partners of the Daurella, Gomez-Trenor and Comenges families is controlled through Olive Partners, in which the Daurells own 56%. He ranks tenth on the list of the richest people in Spain.

Daurella joined the family company in 1993 after graduating from ESADE with a degree in Business Science, an MBA and a Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Berkeley. In 2012 he became president of Cobeg, and in 2013 led the merger of Spanish bottlers, which resulted in the creation of Coca-Cola Iberian Partners.of which she was appointed executive president. After several international mergers, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners was born.

The businesswoman is married to Carles Vilarubi, a former vice-president of the Rothschild bank in Spain and a former vice-president of the Barcelona football club. Both are partners in Forbes House, magazine editor Andres Rodriguez’s most ambitious project. Forbes and founder of SpainMedia. Daurella is a mother of two children. José Albiol (the product of his first marriage to Joan Albiol) and Sol Vilarubi..