The personal investment company of Zara founder Amancio Ortega is trying to diversify one of the biggest fortunes in the world. Fueled by the proceeds from his fashion empire, the billionaire family office, Pontegadea, has embarked on a flurry of deals that shows no sign of abating. Last year, he amassed over $1 billion in energy stakes and spent nearly $2 billion on real estate around the world.

Pontegadea controls the dividend Ortega receives from the company he founded nearly six decades ago. However, he increased investments outside of the clothing sector and thus turned his founder into the richest man in Spain. As Zara’s parent company Inditex shares lost nearly a third of their value over the past five years, the family office has helped it amass the largest real estate portfolio in Europe and position itself in other sectors without selling a single stake.

Pontegadea, based in the city of Arteijo in northwestern Spain, has invested in office and retail buildings in major cities to generate a steady income and has become a shareholder in companies like Amazon. Some of the big real estate deals include the historic Haughwout Building in Manhattan, one of Miami’s tallest office towers, and a 22-story skyscraper in Seoul. However, that strategy backfired during the coronavirus crisis, and the family office has been increasingly investing in energy since 2019, when it acquired a stake in Spanish gas transmission company Enagas SA. Last month, it invested an undisclosed amount in the company’s renewable energy division and bought share in the solar power plant Repsol SA for approximately 27 million euros.

He does energy deals and has spent almost $2 billion buying real estate around the world.

Ortega, 86, founded the company that became Inditex in 1963. The son of a railroad worker, the billionaire never had his own office while working at the retail chain, preferring instead to be close to employees in the main design space. He stepped down as chairman of Inditex in 2011 and was replaced by longtime chief executive Pablo Isla. His only child from his second marriage, 38-year-old Marta Ortega, took over in April.

Ortega’s daughter from her first marriage, Sandra, 54, controls her mother’s stake in Inditex. She plays no role in the business and has invested her fortune in real estate, pharmaceuticals and hotels. With a net worth of $6.6 billion, she is the richest woman in Spain according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Pontegadea, run by former Arthur Andersen director Roberto Kibera, is helping to cushion Ortega’s fortunes from Inditex’s plunge. Some of the company’s other major revenue came from a 2018 bet on the tower division of Telefonica SA.