Each year business magazine Forbes publishes a list of the world’s wealthiest people . To qualify you must not be royalty or a dictator, and individually be worth over a billion dollars. A billion dollars. That’s a million dollars, one thousand times over. And that’s the minimum to qualify.
It was interesting to see how many fashion magnates made it to the 2016 Billionaire List. The second wealthiest person in the world (minus royalty and dictators) and wealthiest retailer in the world is Amancio Ortega, owner of Zara. He’s worth over $65 billion dollars. Only Bill Gates is richer.
Image credit: Wiki Commons
Although some major brands like Zara and H&M have taken steps to reduce their impact on people and the environment there is a lot of work to be done in this notoriously exploitative insdustry. Zara for example, has also been the subject of allegations of child labour and plagiarism amongst others.
Fashion and retail was the second most lucrative sector (behind finance) in terms of bringing in the billions, accounting for around 12% of the world's billionaires featured on the list. It’s difficult to reconcile this mind-bending wealth amongst fashion magnates with the picture at the other end of the spectrum: the workers on the ground producing the clothes.
Bangladeshi garment workers. Image credit: www.truecostmovie.com
It is predicted that there are 40 million garment workers in the world today; many of whom do not share the same access to a basic living wage that many people in the West do. That means that even when you work full time, long hours, often with no breaks, you’re still not earning enough to pay your basic bills like food and rent. It has been predicted that in order to raise a Bangladeshi garment workers income to a basic living wage, it would only mean increasing the cost of a t-shirt from 50c to 80c.
Here’s how the top ten fashion giants stack up in the list of the world’s billionaires. Keep in mind this is not what the companies are worth, rather the individual. Think there’s room to circulate the wealth a little?
1. Amancio Ortega
Source of wealth: Zara
Net worth: $67 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #2
Image credit: Signalng, Wiki Commons
2. Bernard Arnault
Source of wealth: LVMH (owns Fendi, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karen, Kenzo, Celine and several more)
Net worth: $34 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #14
3. Phil Knight
Source of wealth: Nike
Net worth: $24.4 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #24
4. Stefan Persson
Source of wealth: H&M
Net worth: $20.8 billion USD (there were at least three other people on the list worth over $2b whose source of wealth is H&M)
Position on billionaire list: #32
5. Leonardo Del Vecchio
Source of wealth: Luxottica (owns Sunglass Hut, Ray-Ban, and more)
Net worth: $18.7 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #37
6. Tadashi Yanai
Source of wealth: Fast Retailing (owns Uniqlo)
Net worth: $14.6 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #57
7. Francois Pinault
Source of wealth: Owning Gucci, Stella McCartney, Converse Shoes, and more
Net worth: $11.5 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #84
8. Alain Wertheimer
Source of wealth: Chanel
Net worth: $11 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #90
9. Gerard Wertheimer
Source of wealth: Chanel
Net worth: $11 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #90
10. Les Wexner
Source of wealth: L Brands (owns Victoria's Secret, Express, Abercrombie & Fitch, and more)
Net worth: $7.1 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #167
Honourable Mentions:
Giorgio Armani
Source of wealth: Armani
Net worth: $6.1 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #196
Ralph Lauren
Source of wealth: Owner Ralph Lauren
Net worth: $5.5 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #233
Jin Sook & Do Won Chang
Source of wealth: Forever 21
Net worth: $4 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #380
Isak Andic
Source of wealth: Mango
Net worth: $3.4 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #477
Renzo Rosso
Source of wealth: Diesel, Maison Margiela, Viktor & Rolf and more
Net Worth: $3.2 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #527
Doris Fisher
Source of wealth: Gap
Net worth: $2.6 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #666
Miuccia Prada
Source of wealth: Prada (there are two other Prada billionaires on the list)
Net worth: $2.3 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #771
Nicolas Puech
Source of wealth: Hermes
Net worth: $2.1 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #854
Chip Wilson
Source of wealth: Lululemon
Net worth: $2.1 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #854
Timothy Boyle
Source of wealth: Columbia Sportswear
Net worth: $1.7 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #1067
Domenico Dolce
Source of wealth: Dolce & Gabbana
Net worth: $1.3 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #1367
Stefano Gabbana
Source of wealth: Dolce & Gabbana
Net worth: $1.3 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #1367
Richard Hayne
Source of wealth: Urban Outfitters
Net worth: $1.2 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #1476
Paul Fireman
Source of wealth: Reebok
Net worth: $1 billion USD
Position on billionaire list: #1694