The mind-blowing story of the world's richest Kurdish businessman

NEWS - Fuat BULUT

Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, who is among the 100 most powerful names in the business world, is on the agenda with his success in the USA. In this success story extending from Erzincan to the USA, Ulukaya's career, wealth and the Chobani company attract attention.

Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of the world-famous Chobani brand, is ranked 83rd in the list of the 100 most powerful names in the business world published by Fortune magazine. took place. Ulukaya, who achieved success by immigrating to the USA from Erzincan, made his company Chobani a leader in the yoghurt industry in a short time. The famous businessman's biography, companies and wealth are among the topics of curiosity.

AMONG THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS WORLD

New York-based Fortune magazine announced the "100 Most Powerful People in the Business World"list for 2024. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk was at the top of the list, Chobani's CEO Hamdi Ulukaya also entered the list at 83rd place. Ulukaya's strong position in the business world and his success story in the USA attracted attention.

HAMDI ULUKAYA'S LIFE AND SUCCESS STORY

Hamdi Ulukaya, who was born and raised in İliç district of Erzincan, studied Political Science and Public Administration at Ankara University. He immigrated to the USA in 1994. It entered the Greek yoghurt market in the USA under the Chobani brand by purchasing a yoghurt factory in upstate New York in 2005. This initiative brought great success in a short time.

CHOBANI AND THE RISE IN THE YOGHURT INDUSTRY IN THE USA

Chobani, which has become a yogurt empire, attracted attention as the leading yoghurt brand in the USA in 2011. Ulukaya's vision for Greek yoghurt increased its share in the US market from 1% to 50%. This success made Ulukaya among the billionaires in a short time.

HOW MUCH IS HAMDI ULUKAYA'S WEALTH?

According to Forbes data, Hamdi Ulukaya's wealth is approximately 2.3 billion dollars as of 2024. This wealth places him among the 10 richest business people in Turkey. Ulukaya also stands out with its social responsibility projects, with the job opportunities it provides for refugees and immigrants.

This success story, extending from Erzincan to the USA, has turned into an exemplary career with Hamdi Ulukaya's visionary perspective and influence in the business world. His success as the CEO of Chobani makes a difference both in the business world and in the field of social responsibility.

HE CARRIED FROM ZERO TO THE TOP

Kurdish businessman Hamdi Ulukaya, who has made a name for himself in recent years by taking the Chobani yoghurt brand from zero to the top in a short time, is in America. He is one of the most talked about and curious entrepreneurs. Ulukaya is also the owner of the Oslo Business for Peace award, which is considered the Nobel Prize of the business world. Hamdi Ulukaya, the owner of the Chobani Company, which has been on the agenda in the media and social media for weeks with every statement he makes and every project he initiates, is a "good-hearted person who cares about social benefit"with his donations. While creating a "brand"perception, he also created an "innovative brand"image with the projects he initiated, and managed to establish himself in the minds of the American consumer, not only as a billionaire businessman, but also with his social responsibility projects. If he were told that he would be one of the names he talked to, he would probably be the last person to believe it. When he realized the magical atmosphere of New York and its potential to take ordinary lives to the top at any moment, Hamdi Ulukaya, like everyone else, began to pursue dreams that he could never dream of before: Establishing a business and earning big money very quickly!

LIKE THE SILVANLI PIZZA MAKER'S RIGHT...

Poor societies like to create great heroes. Although New York is one of the cities with the highest number of poor people, it is still one of the cities that receives the most immigrants from poor countries. Every year, tens of thousands of people come to New York to pursue their dreams and become the heroes of their own lives. Some dream of a better education and career opportunity, some of them have a better life and an environment where they can develop their talents, some of them have conditions where they can express themselves more freely and take advantage of opportunities...

The only thing that makes New York New York is that it is a city of opportunities. . Imagine a city where even the lives of those who hit rock bottom and became homeless, begging, or imprisoned can suddenly change as if with the touch of a magic wand, as experienced by Silvanli Pizza Maker Hakkı Akdeniz, who recently opened his 10th shop in New York.

HE WENT TO LEARN A LANGUAGE FROM ERZİNDAN

Kurdish businessman Hamdi Ulukaya from Erzincan, owner of the Chobani Company, could only achieve his journey from zero to the top in New York. Life in New York flows so fast that it is possible to fit many lives into 24 hours, and it is equally difficult to fit one life into years. Hamdi Ulukaya also worked hard for years, faced great difficulties, and gained important experiences, but it was not easy to reach the point he wanted. Until one day he suddenly came up with a bright idea. You already follow the rest from the media every day…

Ulukaya perhaps owes everything in life to that “bright idea”. So, the idea of ​​fruit yoghurt, which is a bright yet simple product that appeals to everyone and every pocket in daily life. Undoubtedly, Hamdi Ulukaya could have achieved the same success with an idea that seemed simple at first, such as organic soup, tahini molasses, hazelnut paste. The important thing was that it was a simple and quickly consumable product that met a need, could be consumed and repurchased every day, was cheap, delicious and had a "healthy"perception, and appealed to millions, rich and poor alike. All that was left was to create the perception of "social benefit"and "kind-hearted brand", which Ulukaya has achieved greatly in recent years, thanks to the support it has given to refugees, the shares it has given to employees, social rights and the image it has created in the media and social media, especially with the donations it has made during the Kobani events.

Ulukaya's first experience before yoghurt was in the cheese making business called "Euphrates", meaning "Euphrates", which still continues. Ulukaya got the idea of ​​entering the cheese business from his father, who came to visit him in New York. He first underestimates this idea, but then decides to take it seriously, and thus his Chobani journey begins. Of course, it will not be an easy journey for Ulukaya. Even though everything comes to an end many times, there is no luxury of giving up. Conclusion; Ulukaya started sales in 2008 after two years of preparation in the yoghurt factory he bought in 2005, and his first year's revenue was 20 million dollars. In the following four years, its annual turnover reached 75 million, 250 million, 625 million and 1 billion dollars.

A LIFE STORY THAT TRANSCENDS MOVIES

In fact, what Ulukaya experienced in America in the 90s and 2000s is a familiar story. Like Yeşilçam movies, which tell the lives of those who went to Istanbul or Germany in the 1970s and worked as construction workers or in factories to get to the top. As a representative of the generation that grew up with these films, it is not difficult to guess how impressed Ulukaya was by these stories.

A forced migration, not having the luxury of giving up despite difficult conditions in big cities, and a fortune quickly acquired by taking advantage of sudden opportunities and the fortune gained by the hero. While telling the story of Hamdi Ulukaya's life, we are actually talking about a story as real as his transformation into a hero in the eyes of millions by sharing it with those in need. Ulukaya, who has frequently come to the fore with his donations in recent years, receives so many demands that he cannot even respond to most of the demands. Thereupon, Ulukaya added a "bright ideas support program"to his aid campaigns in order to "teach him how to fish, not give fish", as a Chinese proverb says. The Chobani yoghurt brand, of which Ulukaya is the CEO, was recently listed among the "most innovative companies"by Fast Company. While Ulukaya was elected "business entrepreneur / businessman of the year"many times in America, he was on the "Global Entrepreneurship"committee at the White House during the Obama administration. Ulukaya also gave speeches at the UN many times.

HE ALSO RECEIVED THE NOBEL OF THE BUSINESS WORLD AWARD

Ulukaya was recently awarded the Oslo Business for Peace award, which is considered the Nobel of the business world. The Oslo Business For Peace award, given to leaders who aim to create social and environmental impact, was given for the tenth time this year by the Business for Peace Foundation. Previous winners of the award include Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Virgin CEO Richard Branson and There are names such as Unilever CEO Paul Polman.

Along with Chobani's founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, the other two winners of the award this year are the British Alice Laugher, CEO of CTG-Committed To Good, based in Dubai, and the British Alice Laugher, based in Cameroon. GiftedMom co-founder Dr. Agbor Ashumanyi Ako. Ulukaya stated that he was honored to be deemed worthy of this award and said, “I proudly accept the award on behalf of all my brothers working at Chobani. I believe that this new way of doing business, in which companies focus not only on profit but also on people, and the effort to make the world a more beautiful place, should lie at the heart of every modern company. "As CEOs, we do not need more, we need to do more,"he said. Emphasizing that what increases a company's profitability is giving the value it deserves to the society in which it operates, Ulukaya said, "It is possible to compete and be successful in the business world by putting people at the center.". "Companies that can do this have the power to move mountains,"he said. Reporter: Fuat BULUT