Murat Ülker (born 1959) is a Turkish billionaire businessman, and the chairman of

Yıldız Holding Yıldız Holding is a Turkish conglomerate that is best known for manufacturing food products. The company also produces other consumer goods and has its own retail, private equity and real estate operations. Yıldız Holding is among the large ...

, the largest food company in the CEEMEA region (Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa). Yıldız owns businesses including

Godiva Chocolatier Godiva Chocolatier (; ) is a multinational chocolate maker owned by Turkish conglomerate Yıldız Holding. Founded in Belgium in 1926, it was purchased in 1974 by American food manufacturer Campbell Soup Company, who owned and operated the com ...

pladis pladis Global (styled as pladis) is a British confectionery and snack foods company encompassing United Biscuits, Ülker, Godiva Chocolatier and DeMet's Candy Company. It was formed in January 2016 as a subsidiary of Yıldız Holding with its ...

, and Sok.

Early life

Murat Ülker was born to Sabri Ülker and Güzide İman on 21 March 1959 in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. He attended high school at İstanbul Erkek Lisesi and graduated from

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Boğaziçi Üniversitesi''), also known as Bosphorus University, is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey, historically tied to a former American educational insti ...

with a degree in business administration. In 1982, he studied abroad at the

American Institute of Baking The American Institute of Baking, now known as AIB International, was founded in 1919 as a technology and information transfer center for bakers and food processors. Organization Staff includes experts in the fields of baking production, experi ...

(AIB) and Zentralfachschule der Deutschen Süßwarenwirtschaft (ZDS) and trained at

Continental Baking Company The Continental Baking Company was one of the first bakeries to introduce fortified bread. It was the maker of the Twinkie and Wonder Bread. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers it became part of the former Hostess Brands company. Hist ...

in the United States. He also worked on various

International Executive Service Corps Improving Economies for Stronger Communities is an international economic development not-for-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C. IESC was founded in 1964 by David Rockefeller, States M. Mead III, Frank Pace, Sol Linowitz, a ...

projects.

Career

In 1984, Ülker joined the Ülker Group, part of

, as a control coordinator. Over the following years, he served as assistant general manager for enterprises, and later, as general manager. In 2000, Ülker became the CEO of Yıldız Holding, before becoming its chairman in 2008. Under his chairmanship, Yıldız Holding expanded its business and made several acquisitions including GODIVA Chocolatier in 2008 and United Biscuits in 2014. In 2016, Yildiz formed a new global business, pladis, by bringing together three of its brands: Ülker, United Biscuits, and DeMet’s Candy Company.

Philanthropy

In 2009, the Ülker family established the Sabri Ulker Foundation to make a lasting contribution to public health around the areas of food and nutrition. In 2014, the Ülker family contributed $24 million to Harvard University. The funding, distributed over 10 years, was provided to establish The Sabri Ülker Center for Nutrient, Genetic, and Metabolic Research at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The center addresses chronic and complex diseases to help millions of people with illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Personal life

Murat Ülker is of Crimean Tat descent. He told that his father said "we are Tats, not Tatars", adding that "Tats are a mixed ethnic group that come from abroad and settled in

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. But when you look from the distance, you would say they look like Tatars." He is married, with three children, and lives in

. He is an art collector. In 2012, Ülker sponsored the retrospective art exhibition "Fifty Years of Urban Walls" at Istanbul Modern which attracted 215,000 visitors with 120 works by Burhan Dogançay. Ülker aided in the foundation of the Ülkerspor basketball club in 1993, which later became Fenerbahçe Ülker. The club has won the league championship four times, the Presidential Cup six times, and the Turkish Cup three times. Ülkerspor also reached the quarterfinals of the

FIBA European Champions Cup The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

as well as the

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

. Ülker purchased the naming rights of the Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium for ten years. He has also sponsored the Ülker Sports Arena. Ülker previously supported other football clubs as well, but later withdrew his sponsorship. In 2018, Ülker was named the richest businessman in Turkey with a net worth of $4.8 billion.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulker, Murat 20th-century Turkish businesspeople 21st-century Turkish businesspeople 1959 births Living people Businesspeople from Istanbul Turkish billionaires Turkish people of Crimean Tatar descent Boğaziçi University alumni