Since April 2024, he has also been a Member of the Supervisory Board at Bertelsmann SE & Co., contributing media insight and strategic oversight at one of the world’s largest content and education groups.

Pablo is internationally acclaimed for his 17-year leadership of Inditex—CEO (2005-2011) and subsequently Chair & CEO (2011-2022)—during which he oversaw significant growth from around 2,700 to 7,000+ global stores, maintaining agile supply chains, pioneering eco-efficient retail and digital expansion.

He guided the company’s early e-commerce strategy and spearheaded its award-winning environmental programme, notably reducing water use by 50% and securing an industry-leading hazardous chemical phase-out by 2020. Under his stewardship, Inditex’s market capitalisation surged sixfold, and he earned plaudits as “world’s best performing CEO” from Harvard Business Review in 2017 and 2018.

Before Inditex, he served as Chair of Altadis (2000-2005), leading the tobacco-to-conglomerate transition, and held senior legal roles, including Director of Legal Services at Banco Popular and management roles in Spain’s State Lawyers Corps.

His legal and financial grounding has informed a deeply integrated and risk-aware strategic perspective.

He brings deep cross-sector expertise in:

• Fast-fashion & retail scalability – mastery of asset-light supply chains, global store rollout, and responsive product strategy

• Digital & consumer experience innovation – early adopter of omni-channel retail and proprietary tech platforms

• Sustainability leadership & ESG integration – comprehensive environmental programming across store footprint and sourcing

• Global board governance & compensation strategy – Chairing committees at Nestlé, Bertelsmann and major FTSE/CAC-listed organisations

Educated in Law at the Complutense University of Madrid (LLB, 1987), he topped his State Lawyers entrance examination, and earned an MBA from IE University & Stanford GSB. He is widely respected for his disciplined humility—”humble, but very proud of his team” —and his belief that resilient, purpose-driven leadership propels enduring corporate success.