Zara owner Amancio Ortega has taken second place in Bloomberg's ranking of the world's richest people for the first time since the list was launched in 2012.
Mr Ortega owns 59pc of Inditex, the world's largest clothing retailer behind chains including Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, and Pull and Bear.
The Spanish magnate now has a fortune of $71.5bn (£46.8bn), ahead of Warren Buffett's $70.2bn. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates remains the world's richest person, worth $85.5bn.
Staff review items from the latest range in the main design studio at Inditex HQ
Mr Ortega's fortune has risen by $10.4bn, or 17pc, in the past year. Inditex operates more than 6,600 stores and reported turnover of €18.1bn (£13.2bn) in the year to the end of January. Inditex sets itself apart from other retailers with its "fast fashion" offering, with pieces appearing on rails within weeks of conception, and being replaced by even newer designs just as swiftly.
However, most of Mr Ortega's fortune comes from property. Since Inditex went public in 2001, he has received more than €3bn in dividends. That cash has mostly been spent on commercial properties in major cities in Europe and the US using two investment vehicles based in Spain, says Bloomberg: Pontegadea Inversiones and Partler.
The son of a railway worker, Mr Ortega was born in 1936 in northern Spain and started working in a clothing shop aged 13. He opened his first clothing store in 1975 with his partner Rosalia Mera.
Warren Buffett, the 84-year-old billionaire investor who bought his first stock age 11, has seen his personal wealth slide by $3.6bn, or 5pc, in the past year. American Express and Coca-Cola, two major listed companies in which his investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway holds shares, have seen their share prices weaken over the past year.
Warren Buffett has pledged to give most of his fortune away to good causes
However, Mr Buffett is known for his generous giving and this philanthropy is main reason why his wealth is declining. Last summer he donated $2.8bn of Berkshire Hathaway stock to five charities, with the majority going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has pledged to give away most of his fortune by his death.
Meanwhile, banking veteran Jamie Dimon, the 59-year-old CEO JPMorgan Chase, has made the billionaire's list for the first time, having racked up a personal fortune of $1.1bn. His fortune derives from a $485m stake in New York-based JPMorgan and a seperate investment portfolio.
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