Marta Ortega and a team of 165,000 people

What is the secret Inditex present some accounts that met the expectations of most analysts in an environment marked by war, inflation and still avoiding the edges of the pandemic? How did you get yours uses —4.130 million in 2022— would be twice as much as H&M, Uniqlo and Gap combined —2.071 million—?

The strategy launched 60 years ago by Amancio Ortega — immediate response to customer demands, weaving a network of powerful factories and suppliers in close proximity, and designing logistics that meet market demands — strengthened the structure of the multinational company. However, these pillars would not be enough if the decisions made were not correct when due to the war it was forced to close hundreds of stores in Russia — its second market — and Ukraine or when inflation broke out ready to eat all the margins. And in this context, the actions and decisions of each link in the company play a decisive role. Top management knows this. From arrival to Martha Ortega and from Oscar García Maceiras At the top of the company there is a mantra: “Inditex is the people who make it possible”. There are currently more than 165,000 of them worldwide.

The first — and so far the most important — public speech Martha Ortega was heard at the shareholders’ meeting held in 2021. He emphasized the importance of each person who makes up Inditex. And in his last public appearance — it was in front of the national and international press the day before the announcement of the results during a visit to Meisel’s exhibition — the message was repeated again: he complicitly looked at Garcia Maceiras and announced that he, as a representative of Inditex, will present the accounts. The next day, the President of the Management Board, after explaining that the results show the strength of the business model and its ability to move towards a higher level of development, noted the teamwork, “which I have to represent today”. Both are the same message.

Inside the company, the company’s strength is thought to lie in its culture, “and as long as it’s run by people who have internalized that culture, things will go well,” explains a source close to the executives. “Neither Marta nor Óscar – they add – want to be protagonists. And they explain that” whenever they can. According to consulted sources, in a few months both of them “managed to include the chains in the size of the group, thus opening a good circle in which the work of each of the 165,000 and the work performed by the multinational is valued”.

By the way, the businesswoman arrives at the Arteix headquarters after taking her children to school. She is sitting at the same desk she sat at Zara Woman before she was appointed president on April 1 last year. “Naturalness is what imposes itself”, and the most direct collaborators address her as Marta; His father is “Mr. Ortega.” This year, Inditex will invest 1,600 million euros in stores, logistics, sustainability and talent. The figure confirms that it stepped on the accelerator because it believes it has the opportunity to grow and position itself in huge markets like North America, where for every $100 spent on fashion, the Galician multinational earns 50 cents.

165,000 of them who are part of Marta Ortega’s team know the message