Spanish businesswoman, entrepreneur and billionaire Rosalia Mera was the founder of Inditex. She had an estimated net worth of $6.1 billion. With her earnings, she was listed as the 66th powerful woman and 195th in the list of World Billionaires. She also became the second richest person in Spain.

Rosalia Mera Goyenechea dropped out of school at a very young age of eleven to work as a seamstress. Such venture later led her to the creation of dressing gowns and lingerie along with her ex-husband Amancio Ortega. It later became Inditex, the parent company of the Zara retail store, which has more than 5,500 stores in 77 countries around the world. Among its other brands include Massimo Dutti, Bershka Oysho, Pull and Bear, and Stradivarius.

Mera controlled a 7% stake in the $20.56 billion (in sales) Spanish company which has diversified after its 2001 stock market launch. She invested her money in several other companies such as marine fish farming, in a company that creates sea-products for cancer treatment, and a maker of a fingerprinting system for newborns. Aside from these, she also made a heavy investment in the exclusive Bulgari Hotel in London.

Miss Mera also held a jazz contest for young musicians in Spain. She has established Paideia Foundation because of her physically and mentally disabled son, Marcus. She actively worked in the organization which helps in the integration of such children into society.

Once considered as the world’s richest self-made woman, Rosalia Mera died on August 15, 2013 at the age of 69 while she was on a vacation with her daughter Sandra on the island of Menorca.

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