Forbes Spain has announced a new edition of the list of ‘The 100 richest Spaniards’, which includes the main fortunes of the country. The ranking analyzes not only wealth, but also how they manage their wealth, and studies the market value of their companies, their real estate, luxury and liquidity.
The great fortunes have recovered from the pandemic and are even close to the levels prior to the crisis of 2018. This is reflected in the wealth accumulated during this year of the hundred richest people, with a total of 153,575 million euros (a 17 percent more than in 2020). This would mean, on average, that each millionaire has increased their portfolio by 565,000 euros per day. In addition, the 100 most powerful Spanish families totaled 198,430 million, 14.7 percent more than last year.
Amancio Ortega, Sandra Ortega, Rafael del Pino, Juan Roig and Juan Carlos Escotet, who concentrated more than 50 percent of the total fortune with 83,500 million euros, head this ranking, in which the rise of the president of Ferrovial stands out from fourth to third position thanks to the good performance of the company on the stock market and its dividend policy.
The leadership of the majority shareholder of Inditex remains firm and with better results than last year. With a total of 67,000 million euros, Ortega recovers from the losses of 2020 and increases his wealth by 10,000 million, equivalent to the sum of the 52 Spaniards who follow him on the list.
After him, his daughter Sandra Ortega ?? the only woman in the top five on the list ?? whose fortune amounts to 6,300 million euros, 12.5 percent more than last year.
For his part, Rafael del Pino surpasses Juan Roig on the list and rises to the third position with 3,800 million compared to the 3,7000 million of the president of Mercadona. Finally, Juan Carlos Escotet, president of ABANCA, has 2,700 million euros. The 2021 list is closed by José Riquelme, Joseba Grajales, Miguel Ángel and Mar García-Baquero, Jorge and Josep and Oriol Puig with 250 million each.
The million of renewable energies
Without a doubt, this new edition is the “greenest”. Renewable energies are reinforced in the list with the presence, among others, of José Elías, majority shareholder of Audax Renovables (900 million euros); José María Galíndez (400 million in Solar Pack); Dolores Larrañaga, main shareholder of Solaria (375 million) or Enric Asunción, president and co-founder of Wallbox (325 million), specialized in charging points for electric vehicles. In total, these 19 new additions contribute a total of 2,800 million euros.
Gender inequality in Spanish fortunes
Regarding the gender division, the presence of women in the ranking is still a minority (they only occupy 30 percent). In fact, the average wealth of men is 1,511 million euros, and that of women, 993 million.
With Sandra Ortega at the helm, they are followed by Alicia Koplowitz, owner of Omega Capital, and Hortensia Herrero, Mercadona shareholder, in sixth and seventh place with 2,300 million.
By region, Madrid is the community that contributes the most multimillionaire women to the ranking, with 19 fortunes that accumulate 12,875 million; followed by Catalonia, with 18 women and a sum of 8,550 million euros. At the opposite extreme are Extremadura and Navarra, where no woman owns more than 30 million euros.
In this edition, Asunción Manzanet, owner of Sorman; Silvia Mora-Figueroa Domecq, owner of Agriculturas Diversas; Aurèlia Carulla, shareholder of Agrolimen; o Montserrat Grifols Gras, shareholder of the pharmaceutical group Grifols.
Madrid, in the lead thanks to its aggressive fiscal policy
Madrid continues to lead the ranking of the richest communities thanks to an aggressive fiscal policy that has allowed it to attract wealth from other communities. In this way, the capital has 36 natives who accumulate a total of 32,825 million euros, but adds another 14 fortunes that have their main headquarters in Madrid, although they come from other regions.
Madrid’s fortunes are led by Rafael del Pino and Calvo-Sotelo (3,800 million euros), who this year has surpassed the Valencian Juan Roig (3,700 million euros, Mercadona) thanks to the evolution of Ferrovial in the Stock Market. Dimas Gimeno, former president of El Corte Inglés, and Esther Alcocer Koplowitz, president of FCC, remain at the gates of the 100 richest Spaniards with 200 million each.
After Madrid and Catalonia, the Basque Country and Murcia gain weight in terms of accumulated wealth. Murcia has five of the 100 richest families in Spain, with a combined fortune of 4,525 million euros, and three of the 100 richest Spaniards. On the part of the Basque Country, the fortunes of Daniel Maté, Juan Luis Arregui, Víctor Urrutia and the Sendagorta, Ormazabal and Zardoya families are added.
In the opposite situation are the Balearic and Canary Islands, whose fortunes from tourism have been hit by the covid, although they are recovering. Among the most prominent Canarian businessmen are Eustasio and Aurelio López, owners of Lopesan, and Wolfgang Kiessling, of German origin, promoter of Loro Parque.
Elite athletes, entrepreneurs and the rich
The valuation of Spanish athletes such as Rafa Nadal and Fernando Alonso deserves special mention who, despite not appearing on the list of ‘The 100 richest Spaniards’, accumulate a wealth of 225 million euros, followed by Sergio Ramos, Iniesta and Piqué , with 100 million each.
With the exception of Iniesta, Spanish athletes are not among the richest internationals either, and three have been displaced from the Forbes ‘The World’s highest-paid athletes’ ranking. Tennis player Rafael Nadal ranked 27th in 2020 with $ 40 million in revenue, but this year he has jumped past 50th. Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso was thirty-ninth in 2018, with $ 32 million, but already in 2019 he was out. For his part, Pau Gasol, who in 2014 ranked 57th with 21.8 million dollars, left the ranking in 2015.
