Hacı Ömer Sabancı (1 January 1906 – 2 February 1966) was a
Turkish entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
, who founded a number of companies, which later formed the second largest industrial and financial conglomerate of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, the
Sabancı Holding
Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding A.Ş., commonly abbreviated as Sabancı Holding, is an industrial and financial conglomerate with headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. The company's primary activities are in financial services, energy (electricity generat ...
. He initiated the establishment of a dynasty of Turkey's wealthiest businesspeople.
Early life
He was born in
Akçakaya village, a small village in
Kayseri Province in central
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, Turkey. In 1921, a couple of years after the death of his father, the then fifteen-year-old youngster left his hometown and walked all the way to
Adana
Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million.
Adana lies in the heart of Cilicia, wh ...
to seek his fortune.
Career
Hacı Ömer started his new life as a
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
picker. In Adana he took part in the
confiscation of Armenian property and businesses after the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
, which was encouraged by the Turkish government.
[Ayşe Buğra: ''State and Business in Modern Turkey. A Comparative Study.'' SUNY Press, 1994. p. 82]
Soon, he became a broker for cotton harvesters. With the money he saved in a few years, Hacı Ömer entered the cotton trade, and in 1932 became a co-owner of a cotton
spinning plant. At that time, the people working for him called him "Aga" ("Boss"). In 1943, he became a partner of YağSA, and in 1946 of MarSA, both production plants of
vegetable oil
Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or f ...
and
margarine, respectively. In 1948 Hacı Ömer established his own bank
Akbank
Akbank T.A.Ş. is one of the largest banks in Turkey. Founded in 1948, , it had revenues of nearly TL 13.7 billion. Listed on the Borsa Istanbul, its largest shareholders are members of the Sabancı family. Akbank is a bank that offers vehicle ...
. In 1951 in Adana he founded the textile company
Bossa, which became the largest integrated textile facility in Turkey. In the following years, he founded Oralitsa (1954), a roofing material factory, and Aksigorta (1960), an insurance company.
In 1928, he married Sadıka (1910–1988), who bore him six sons,
İhsan (1931–1979),
Sakıp (1933–2004),
Hacı (1935–1998),
Şevket (1936–2021),
Erol Erol is a Turkish given name or surname meaning "brave".
This name is shared by the following people:
Given name
* Erol Alkan (born 1974), Turkish Cypriot DJ, artist and record producer
* Erol Erdal Alkan (born 1994), Turkish footballer
* Erol Be ...
(born 1938) and
Özdemir (1941–1996). Hacı Ömer Sabancı and his family moved to
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
after purchasing, in 1951, a mansion known as "Atlı Köşk" ("Equestrian Villa") on the
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an shore of
Bosphorus in
Emirgan. This house is used as the
Sakıp Sabancı Museum
The Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum ( tr, Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi) is a private fine arts museum in Istanbul, Turkey, dedicated to calligraphic art, religious and state documents, as well as paintings of the Ottoman era. The museum w ...
today.
He died, a self-made rich man, on 22 February 1966 in İstanbul. He is commemorated by the holding company of the group, Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding, which was founded 1967 soon after his death in Adana. A charity institution, Hacı Ömer Sabancı Foundation "Vaksa" was established also in 1974 in Adana and named after him. The foundation built, among other things, a high school sports hall in İstanbul, a cultural center in Adana, dormitories in
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
and Adana, and primary schools in Kayseri and
Van, which are dedicated to him.
External links
Biography at Sabancı Holding website
Milestones of Sabancı Holding
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabanci, Haci Omer
1906 births
1966 deaths
People from Talas, Turkey
20th-century Turkish businesspeople
Omer