Son of billionaire Mango founder arrested after dad plunged to death down ravine

The president and founder of Mango, Isak Andic, during the award ceremony for the 8th Kingdom of Spain Business Career Achievement Award (Iese), at the IESE Business School Barcelona North Campus, on 18 March, 2024 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. (Photo By Lorena Sopena/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Mango founder Isak Andic died in 2024 while on a hike (Picture: Reuters)

Police in Spain have arrested the son of Isak Andic, the billionaire founder of the Spanish fashion brand Mango, over claims he may have played a role in his death.

Mr Andic, 71, was hiking with his son, Jonathan Andic,in the mountains near Barcelona when he fell about 500 feet into a ravine and died in December 2024.

The younger Andic, 45, was the only witness. Police opened an investigation but closed it a few weeks later.

However, it was reopened in March 2025, and in October, police confirmed the death was being investigated as a possible homicide.

Inconsistencies in Andic’s statements prompted a judicial review, according to La Vanguardia newspaper.

The family said in October that it was confident that Andic was innocent and that it would ‘continue to cooperate’ with the authorities.

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Jonathan Andic, the son of the founder of the Mango fashion group, Isak Andic, arrives at court escorted by police, where he is expected to be questioned after being detained in an investigation of the death of his father, who was killed in a fall from a cliff near Barcelona in December 2024, in Martorell, Spain, May 19, 2026. REUTERS/Albert Gea
Jonathan Andic has been arrested following his father’s death in 2024 (Picture: Reuters)

Andic was taken to court facilities in Martorell, a city in eastern Spain, where the case is being investigated, said a spokesperson for the Catalan regional police, Mossos d’Esquadra.

The case is subject to a nondisclosure order, he added.

Jonathan Andic is the eldest of Mr Andic’s three children and one of his father’s heirs.

He is the vice chairman of the board at Mango, one of Spain’s biggest retailers.

The late Mr Andic, who was born in Istanbul in 1953, emigrated to Catalonia with his relatives in the late 1960s.

(FILES) An image of the late Mango founder Isak Andic who died unexpectedly last year is projected as Mango Chairman and CEO Toni Ruiz, (C) stands next to Chief Financial Officer Margarita Salvans (L), and Chief Expansion and Franchise Officer Daniel Lopez stand during a press conference to present their 2024 financial results in Palau-solita i Plegamans, north of Barcelona, on March 10, 2025. Spanish police said on May 19, 2026 they have arrested the eldest son of Mango clothing empire founder Isak Andic over his father's death during a hiking trip in December 2024. (Photo by Manaure QUINTERO / AFP via Getty Images)
The fashion giant began selling clothes in 1984 (Picture: AFP)

The businessman started selling T-shirts to fellow high school students before progressing to running a wholesale business and selling clothes in street markets and eventually opening his first Mango store in 1984.

It became one of Europe’s foremost fashion empires, spread across 120 countries with some 2,800 stores and over 16,000 staff.

At the time of his death, Mr Andic was the non-executive chairman of the fashion brand and was worth £3.35bn, according to Forbes.

In a statement following his death, Mango CEO Tony Ruiz said the late businessman had ‘dedicated his life to Mango’.

He added: ‘His legacy reflects the achievements of a business project marked by success, and also by his human quality, his proximity and the care and affection that he always had and at all times conveyed to the entire organisation.’

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