Founder of Mango clothing empire son arrested in Spain over father’s death

Isak Andic, the founder of Spanish fashion brand Mango, arrives at the Fall-Winter 2011 Mango's fashion show in Paris Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

BARCELONA, Spain -- Spanish police said Tuesday 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.

Jonathan Andic, who was alone with his 71-year-old father when the retail magnate plunged to his death in the Montserrat mountains near Barcelona, was taken into custody, Catalan regional police said, confirming a report in the daily La Vanguardia newspaper.

Authorities said at the time of his death that he fell from a height near the Salnitre caves in Collbato, an area marked by steep drops and ravines.

Investigators initially treated the death as an accident, with early findings suggesting Isak, one of Spain’s richest men, may have slipped.

A judge closed the case in January 2025 after finding no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

However, investigators with Catalonia’s regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, along with prosecutors and the court, reopened the investigation in October 2025 after citing inconsistencies in Jonathan Andic’s testimony, according to the reports.

Spanish newspaper El Pais reported at the time that authorities had seized Jonathan Andic’s phone shortly after the death.

It also cited testimony from Isak Andic’s partner, professional golfer Estefania Knuth, describing the at times tense relations between father and son.

According to the newspaper, the two had clashed over the younger Andic’s role in the company.

Isak reportedly handed more operational responsibility to Jonathan in 2014, but then resumed tighter control a year later when Mango experienced business difficulties.

Knuth was also reportedly involved in a financial dispute with Isak’s three children over the Mango founder’s will.

Authorities have released few details about the investigation, which remains under judicial secrecy, Catalonia’s High Court said Tuesday.

Jonathan Andic has denied any responsibility for his father’s death and has maintained that the fall was accidental.

He began his professional career in Mango in 2005 after studying audiovisual communication in the United States and business in Spain.

US$4.5 billion fortune

Jonathan began to manage the Mango Man line two years later and was the vice-chairman of Mango’s board at the time of his father’s death.

“If you are clear about where you want to go and keep moving forward, you will end up achieving your goals,” Jonathan Andic, who rarely gives interviews, said in a 2023 Mango promotional video posted on YouTube.

Born in Istanbul, Isak moved with his family to Barcelona from Turkey as a teenager in the late 1960s.

He opened his first Mango shop on the Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona’s famous shopping street, in 1984 with the help of his older brother Nahman. It was hugely successful.

Spain had just emerged from a decades-long dictatorship that ended with the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975, and consumers were hungry for more modern clothes.

His Mango brand quickly mushroomed across Spain and has become one of the world’s leading fashion groups, with about 2,850 stores worldwide.

The company offers both professional and casual styles and boasts a presence in more than 120 markets with more than 16,400 employees worldwide, according to its website.

At the time of his death, Forbes estimated Isak’s fortune at US$4.5 billion.

By Rosa Sulleiro, AFP