Saturday, 14 December 2024, 18:46
The founder of the Mango fashion chain in Spain, Isak Andic Ermay, 71, died this Saturday when he fell from a height of 150 metres while hiking with several members of his family near the Salnitre caves in the Montserrat massif. The businessman, a mountain and hiking enthusiast, was accompanied by his son and his wife when he slipped on one of the paths and fell into a ravine. It was his son who alerted the emergency services via 112.
The son explained to officers that his father was walking behind him and at one point he heard the sound of rocks falling and when he turned around he saw his father plunging into the void.
Mango founder Isak Andic.
RC
A mountain unit recovered the body of the businessman at half past three in the afternoon and transferred it to the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensics of Catalonia, where it will undergo an autopsy in the next few hours.
Andic, Mango’s non-executive chairman, was one of Spain’s richest people with an estimated net worth of 4.5 billion euros. In 1984 he opened the first Mango shop in Barcelona, on Paseo de Gracia, and turned the company into a major textile company. Andic’s family emigrated from Turkey to Barcelona in 1969, where he and his brother Nahman started selling T-shirts and hand-embroidered clogs. Mango closed 2023 with a turnover of 3.1 billion euros, with 33% of its business coming from online, and a presence in more than 120 markets.
The news of his death has shocked the business and political world. president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, expressed his “dismay” and highlighted the “great loss for the Spanish business fabric” that Andic’s death represents. The president of the Partido Popular, Albeerto Núñez Feijóo, and the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, also expressed their sorrow. “We are shocked by the loss of Isak Andic, a committed businessman who, with his leadership, has contributed to making Catalonia great and projecting it in the world. He leaves an indelible mark on the Catalan and global fashion sector. My condolences and those of the entire regional government to family, friends and the Mango team,” Illa posted on X.
“It is with deep regret that we announce the unexpected death of Isak Andic, our non-executive chairman and founder of Mango, in an accident this Saturday,” said the fashion company’s CEO, Toni Ruiz. “Isak has been an example for all of us. He has dedicated his life to the Mango project, leaving an indelible mark thanks to his strategic vision, his inspiring leadership and his unwavering commitment to values that are those that he himself has imbued in our company,” he added in a statement released this Saturday. “His legacy reflects the achievements of a business project marked by success, and also by his human qualities, his proximity and the care and affection that, always and at all times, he has transferred to the entire organisation,” it said. “His departure leaves a huge void; it is up to us, and this is the best tribute we can pay to Isak”, Ruiz stressed, “to ensure that Mango continues to be the project that Isak’s ambition was and of which he would have been proud”.
