The son of late Mango founder Isak Andic quit as the fashion company’s vice president Tuesday, days after he was arrested in connection with his father’s deadly plunge from a cliff.
Jonathan Andic — who took over the global fashion empire in 2024 following his father’s death — maintained his innocence but said he was stepping away in an open letter sent to the company.
“I write these words with sincerity and humilty, from the pain, helplessness and frustration of finding myself faced with a narrative of alleged guilt that does not correspond to reality,” the eldest Andic, 45, said in the statement, as reported by Euronews.
“[I must] live with the gravest, most unjust and unfounded accusation that can be levelled at a person,” Andic added, going on to say that he was stepping aside to fight his case.
“A public narrative has been constructed that is one-sided, taken out of context and distorted, and which has created a perception of guilt that bears no relation to reality. I know that dismantling it will require time, effort and intense dedication,” he said.
In a separate internal memo, Mango’s CEO, Toni Ruiz, and its board of directors insisted that they still support Andic.
“The members of the Board of Directors unanimously endorse Mr. Ruiz’s remarks and join the Andic Family in expressing their support for Jonathan. They further express their full confidence that the legal proceedings will be resolved favourably and trust that this will happen as swiftly as possible,” read the memo.
Andic was arrested last week in connection with the December 2024 death of his father, 71, who was found at the bottom of a 330-foot cliff on a popular walking trail near his home in Catalonia, northern Spain.
His son insisted that the self-made billionaire, with whom he was allegedly in a dispute, slipped and fell while his back was turned.
But investigators said that they found evidence that conflicted with the son’s account of events, and also believed that Jonathan had recently learned about a change in his father’s will.
The relationship between father and son had deteriorated in the final months due to Jonathan’s obsession with money, Judge Raquel Nieto said in a writ last week.
His WhatsApp messages expressed “feelings of hatred, resentment and thoughts of death, and blaming his father for the situation,” the judge said last week.
But Jonathan challenged that portrayal of the relationship in his letter Tuesday.
“We shared many happy, cherished and loving moments together. As is the case in so many families, we have also faced difficult and challenging times, which we have overcome through great effort, generosity and support,” he wrote.
Jonathan was released last week after posting bail of $1.16 million and is due back in court next month.
Together with his sisters, Sarah and Judith Andic Raig, he controls 95% of Mango, the company founded in Barcelona in 1984 by their father, a Turkish-born Jewish immigrant who rose to become one of Spain’s richest men, with a net worth of around $4.5 billion when he died.
Jonathan was named executive vice president of Mango’s holding company in January 2025, around six weeks after his father’s death.
The vice-presidency role, which Jonathan is giving up, carries no executive responsibilities, and he is not losing his shares in the company.
With Post wires
