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Giant Spanish fashion retailer Inditex has appointed Marta Ortega, the daughter of the company’s co-founder, as president, which has unexpectedly accelerated the generational transition at a time when the fashion industry is facing significant supply chain challenges linked to the pandemic. the company said on Tuesday.
Ms Ortega, 37, will take over the company in April from Pablo Isla, who has led the company since 2011 and is known for driving the group’s online and international growth, including in the Chinese market. It sells brands such as Inditex, Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Pull & Bear.
Ms. Ortega started as an assistant at Bershka and spent 15 years working for her family’s company.
“I’ve always said that I would dedicate my life to building on my family’s legacy, looking to the future but learning from the past,” she said in a statement.
Inditex has also appointed Óscar García Maceiras, a former state attorney who joined Inditex in March, as its new CEO. Current CEO Carlos Crespo is returning to his former position as COO.
Ms. Ortega was expected to take over from her long-time father, Amancio Ortega, who is 85 years old. richest man in spain and is the majority shareholder of the company.
Shares of Inditex tumbled more than 5 percent on Tuesday after the appointment was announced. Investors were concerned that the new team of Mr Ortega and Mr García Maceiras lacked operational experience at a time when retailers are grappling with the coronavirus pandemic and consequent supply bottlenecks.
But the share price rebounded on Wednesday and rose 4.5 percent.
“The timing is not the best,” Kepler, a brokerage firm, told investors in a note. “We believe that both Marta Ortega and CEO Óscar Maceiras have a lot to prove when it comes to their ability to manage this great beast amid the Covid crisis.”
Inditex was founded by Mr Ortega and his then-wife Rosalía Mera in 1975 in Galicia, northwest Spain, where Inditex still makes some of its clothing. The company also manufactures in other parts of Europe, Asia and Africa and has more than 6,000 stores worldwide.
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