Mango fashion tycoon was embroiled in bitter dispute with son before he plunged from cliff during hike together: reports

The son of a billionaire fashion mogul was reportedly embroiled in a bitter business dispute at the time of his father’s death when he plummeted off a cliff.

Jonathan Andic, 45, appeared in court in Barcelona on Tuesday after he was named as a suspect in the death of his father, Isak Andic, 71, founder of fashion group Mango.

The eldest of Isak’s three children, Jonathan is the only one of his siblings on the Mango board, serving as vice president.

Jonathan became the CEO of Mango in 2012 when his father retired, but the pair fell out after the eldest son hired an outsider to be the company’s chief financial officer, according to Spanish newspaper El País.

Over the next three years, the company lost around $116 million, forcing Isak to come out of retirement and return to the company as non-executive chairman.

One of Isak’s moves was to remove his son as CEO in 2020, El Pais reported.

In December 2024, Isak died after plunging down a 320-foot ravine in the mountains of Catalonia during a hike with Jonathan.

At the time of his death, he was worth $4.5 billion, according to Forbes.

A report from the judge in the case said that Izak was trying to change his will to create a charitable foundation at the time of his death, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Jonathan had allegedly proposed the hike together.

The company is now being run by Izak’s trusted consigliere Toni Ruiz, who has a 5% stake in the company.

After the father’s death, Jonathan and his sisters inherited their 95% stake in the company.

Jonathan, who currently serves as vice chairman of Mango’s board, appeared in a court in Martorell, outside Barcelona, on Tuesday, where bail was set at $1.16 million.

He was ordered by the judge to surrender his passport and has weekly mandated court appearances, according to a spokesperson for the High Court of Justice of Barcelona.

Jonathan has denied any connection to his father’s death, which was initially ruled an accident, but is now officially being treated as a possible homicide.

Sources told El Pais that despite their professional disputes, the pair had a close father-son relationship, and Jonathan went over to eat at his father’s house almost every Saturday.

Father and son would even practice gymnastics together.

“There is no legitimate evidence against him, nor will any be found,” a spokesperson for the Andic family said Tuesday.

With Post wires.