Isak Andic, the founder of high street fashion chain Mango, died on Saturday after a hiking accident in Spain, the company said.

According to local media reports, the 71-year-old billionaire slipped and fell from a 150-meter-high cliff while hiking with relatives in the Montserrat Caves near Barcelona.

The newspaper El País reported that Andic’s son was at the scene of the accident and at around 1 p.m. police were sent to the scene with a helicopter and a specialized mountain unit.

Mango CEO Toni Ruiz said in a statement: “It is with great regret that we announce the unexpected death of Isak Andic, our non-executive chairman and founder of Mango, in an accident this Saturday.

“Isak was a role model for all of us. He dedicated his life to Mango and left an indelible mark thanks to his strategic vision, his inspiring leadership and his unwavering commitment to the values ​​that he himself embodied in our company.

“His legacy reflects the achievements of a successful corporate project, but also his human quality, his closeness and the care and affection that he always showed and conveyed to the entire organization at all times.”

“His departure leaves a huge void, but in some ways we are all his legacy and proof of his achievements.”

The statement added: “It is up to us, and this is the best tribute we can pay to Isak and that we will fulfill, to ensure that Mango continues to be the project that Isak aspired to be and that he would be proud of. “

“In these extremely difficult times, we share the family’s pain as if it were our own.”

Andic emigrated with his family from Turkey to the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia in the 1960s at the age of 13.

He started selling T-shirts to classmates at the American high school in Barcelona. The young entrepreneur then ran a wholesale business and sold clothes at the market on Balmes Street in Barcelona. However, he realized there was more money to be made in retail and opened the first Mango store in the city in 1984.

The Istanbul-born businessman’s net worth is $4.5 billion (£3.6 billion), according to Forbes, and he was non-executive chairman of the company when he died.

Mango had sales of €3.1bn (£2.6bn) in 2023, with 33% of its business online and a presence in more than 120 countries.

The brand’s first store in the UK opened in 1999 and there are now more than 60 stores nationwide.