The founder of Zara buys a five-star hotel in Paris for 97 million euros Amancio Ortega makes his second real estate purchase in France this year with the Hotel Banke

Real estate is increasingly establishing itself as a top-choice sector for major fashion players, whether fast or slow. After Kering, which recently began selling real estate properties, and LVMH, which occasionally treats itself to a hotel or restaurant, it is now Amancio Ortega’s turn—the co-founder of Inditex and founder of fast fashion giant Zara—to continue his real estate shopping spree. Considered the richest man in Spain, he has just purchased the Hôtel Banke in Paris, located near the Palais Garnier, for $113 million (or €97 million), marking his second acquisition in France in the past year.

Through his company Pontegadea Inversiones, Ortega manages one of Europe’s largest real estate portfolios, estimated at over €18 billion last year. He owns numerous prestigious buildings from New York to Madrid to London. Among other properties, he owns the flagship Tiffany & Co. store in San Francisco, the Crespa Tower—one of Spain’s tallest skyscrapers—and the Adelphi Building in London. The Hôtel Banke in Paris, with its historical significance as a former bank turned five-star hotel, fits perfectly into the real estate strategy of Europe’s second-richest man and Spain’s wealthiest, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.