Pablo Isla Álvarez de Tejera (born 22 January 1964) is a Spanish businessman and a civil service lawyer who was chairman and CEO of

Inditex Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. (Inditex; , ; ) is a Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Arteixo, Galicia, Spain. The largest fast fashion group in the world, it operates over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. The compa ...

, a Spanish corporation and the world's largest fashion group, from 2005 to 2022.

Early life and education

Isla graduated with a law degree from the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

in 1987 being the second in his year and the best grade of the squad until the date. He joined the

State Lawyers Corps The State Lawyers Corps (Spanish: ''Cuerpo de Abogados del Estado'') is a body of top civil servants in Spain, dependent on the Solicitor General of the State, itself organically integrated (currently) within the Ministry of Justice. It was crea ...

in 1988, the 1st in his promotion.

Career

From 1992 to 1996 Isla was Director of Legal Services for

Banco Popular Español Banco Popular Español, S.A. () was the sixth largest banking group in Spain before it was bought by Banco Santander as part of a rescue package in June 2017. Components The group consisted of the following companies: * national bank: Banco Pop ...

. In 1996, he left that position and became the general manager of the National heritage department of the Treasury. In 1998, he rejoined Banco Popular Español as general secretary. From 2000 to 2005, he was chairman of Altadis group. Isla was named CEO and deputy chairman of Inditex in 2005 and was named chairman of the company in 2011. Under Isla, Inditex committed to eliminate the release of all hazardous chemicals from production and products by 2020. Isla has also committed the company to adopt an eco-efficient store model that can reduce emissions by 30 percent and water consumption by 50% by 2020. Inditex expanded from 2,692 stores in 2005, to 7,013 stores at the end of 2015 under Isla's leadership. During the same period, he is also credited with leading the company's online expansion. In 2022, Inditex paid Isla 12.4 million euros in his last year with the company, more than double what he received in 2020 as the executive president.Corina Pons (1 April 2022)
Analysis: More than a chairperson - founder's daughter takes Zara helm
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''. He was replaced with Oscar Garcia as CEO and Marta Ortega as chair.

Other activities

Corporate boards

Bertelsmann The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...

, member of the supervisory board (from 2024) *

Logista Compañía de Distribución Integral Logista Holdings, S.A., or Grupo Logista is a Spanish company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a distributor of products and services to proximity retailers in Southern Europe. The company distribution in ...

, member of the board of directors *

Telefónica , S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company with registered office and headquarters located in two different places, both in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the ...

, independent member of the board of directors (2002–2017) *

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

, member of the board of directors *

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

, member of the external advisory group

Non-profit organizations

European Round Table of Industrialists The European Round Table for Industry (previously known as the European Round Table of Industrialists), abbreviated ERT, is a cross-sectoral forum and advocacy group in the European Union consisting of some 60 European industrial businesspeople wo ...

(ERT), Member *

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía'' ("Queen Sofía National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen Sofía. I ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees

Recognition

In 2017 Isla was recognized as the Best-Performing CEOs in the World's list by

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a not-for-profit, independent corporation that is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ''HBR'' is published six times a year ...

(up from 3rd position in 2015 and 14th in 2014 ). Likewise, from 2012 to 2013, Isla was listed on ''

Barron's ''Barron's'' (stylized in all caps) is an American weekly magazine and newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp, since 1921. Founded as ''Barron's National Financial Weekly'' in 1921 by Clarence W. Barron (1855–19 ...

'' list of ''World's Best CEOs''. In February 2020, he received the award for ''Best CEO'' of the Decade from

Forbes Spain ''Forbes Spain'' is a monthly business magazine which was started in 2013. It is the 25th international edition of American business magazine ''Forbes''. The publisher is , and the founding editor of the magazine was Andrés Rodríguez, chair of ...

magazine.

References

External links

Inditex Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isla, Pablo 20th-century Spanish lawyers 21st-century Spanish businesspeople 1964 births Living people Members of the State Lawyers Corps Complutense University of Madrid alumni