Mustafa Rahmi Koç (born 9 October 1930) is a Turkish businessman. In 2016, Forbes ranked him No. 906 richest person in the world with a net worth of $2.6 billion. In 2013, he was the Turkish person who paid the most income taxes in his country, totalling 37.5 million lira.

Biography

Early life

Rahmi Koç was the only son of one of Turkey's wealthiest men

Vehbi Koç Ahmet Vehbi Koç (20 July 1901 – 25 February 1996) was a Turkish entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Koç Holding, Koç Group, one of Turkey’s largest groups of companies. During his lifetime he came to be one of Turkey's wea ...

. He attended high school at

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

after his primary education in Ankara. Rahmi Koç then studied at the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in the US and received his BA in industrial management.

Career

Following his military service, he started actively working for the Koç Group in 1958, joining the Otokoç Company in Ankara. In 1960, he transferred to Koç Ticaret, which represented the Koç Group in Ankara. Following the relocation of the Koç Holding headquarters from Ankara to Istanbul in 1964, which was established a year earlier, he became general coordinator of

Koç Holding Koç Holding A.Ş. () is the largest industrial conglomerate in Turkey, and the only company in the country to be listed on the Fortune Global 500 as of 2016. The company, headquartered in Nakkaştepe, Istanbul, is controlled by the Koç family, ...

A.Ş. and moved to Istanbul. Thereafter in 1970, he became chairman of the executive committee and in 1975 deputy chairman of the board of management. Rahmi Koç was appointed chairman of the Koç Holding management committee in 1980. His father Vehbi Koç transferred his chairmanship to his son on 30 March 1984. Rahmi Koç retired from this duty on 4 April 2003, transferring his chair to his eldest son Mustafa Koç. Rahmi Koç is currently Honorary Chairman of the Koç Holding. A visit to Henry Ford Museum in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

inspired him to create the

Rahmi M Koç Museum Rahmi ( ar, رحمي) is a masculine Arabic and Turkish given name, it may refer to: People * Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu (1913-1975), Turkish painter and poet * Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar (1864–1944), Turkish writer and politician * Rahmi Koç (born 1 ...

in Istanbul, which is dedicated to the history of transport, industry and communications exhibiting trains, submarines and autos. In 2013, he bought the Merrill-Stevens Drydock & Repair Co., Florida's oldest boatyard, and renamed it RMK Merrill-Stevens. He is the owner of a 171-foot yacht, the ''Nazenin V''.

Other mandates and memberships

* Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce for the term 1995–1996 * Member of the

Rotary club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

* Member of the Istanbul Open Sea Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club.

Honorary doctorates

Rahmi Koç received honorary doctorates from the following universities: * 21 May 1998

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland, USA * 28 September 1998 Anadolu University, Eskişehir * 14 May 1999

Ege University Ege University or Aegean University ( tr, Ege Üniversitesi) is a public research university in Bornova, İzmir. It was founded in 1955 with the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in İzmir and the ...

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

* 14 June 1999 Bilkent Üniversitesi, Ankara * 23 April 2001

Ovidius University Ovidius University of Constanța ( ro, Universitatea "Ovidius" din Constanța) is a public higher education institution in Constanța, Romania founded in 1961 as a Pedagogical Institute and transformed into a comprehensive university in 1990. A ...

, Constanţa, Romania.

Awards

Rahmi Koç was awarded by various national and international institutions as listed below: * Officier dans L'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (of France), 2015 * German "Großes Verdienstkreuz" (Great Cross of Merit) * Italian "Ordine al Merito della Repubblica" (Order of Merit of the Republic), 2001 * Turkish "

State Medal of Distinguished Service State Medal of Distinguished Service ( tr, Devlet Üstün Hizmet Madalyası) is one of the three civil state decorations of Turkey. The medal was established on October 24, 1983 with the Law on Medals and Orders, Act No. 2933. It is rewarded to Tur ...

" (1997)

Private life

He is a big fan and financial supporter of

Beşiktaş J.K. Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü (), also known simply as Beşiktaş (), is a Turkish sports club founded in 1903 that is based in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul. The club's football team is one of the Big Three in Turkey and one of the most ...

Rahmi Koç has three sons: Mustafa Vehbi (1960–2016), Ömer Mehmet (1962) and

Ali Yıldırım ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 common era, CE) was the last of four Rashidun, Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was ...

(1967) from his previous marriage to Çiğdem Simavi. His son Mustafa died on 21 January 2016, of a heart attack, at the age of 55.

References

External links

Koç Holding A.Ş.Rahmi M. Koç MuseumCreating Emerging Markets Interview
at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koc, Rahmi 1930 births People from Ankara Robert College alumni Living people Rahmi Mustafa Johns Hopkins University alumni Turkish businesspeople Turkish philanthropists Turkish billionaires Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Museum founders Recipients of the State Medal of Distinguished Service