Zara owner builds US$10b property empire

[NEW YORK] Amancio Ortega Gaona, already the world's fourth-richest person based on the success of his Zara fashion retail stores, has quietly amassed a real estate empire worth as much as US$10 billion and is emerging as a formidable competitor for prime properties from London to Beverly Hills. Relying on all-cash offers, he has outbid the world's biggest institutional funds and professional property investors, such as Tishman Speyer Properties LP.

"He's at the very highest levels …