Hamdi Ulukaya

Hamdi Ulukaya
Ulukaya in 2022
Born (1972-10-26) 26 October 1972 (age 52)[1]
İliç, Turkey[2]
CitizenshipTurkey[3]
Alma materUniversity at Albany
Ankara University
OccupationFounder & CEO of Chobani
Spouses
Ayşe Giray
​
(m. 1997⁠–⁠1999)​
[4]
Louise Vongerichten
​
(m. 2018)​
Children3[5]

Hamdi Ulukaya (born 26 October 1972) is a Turkish[6][7][8] billionaire businessman, activist, philanthropist of Kurdish ethnicity and based in the United States.[8][9][10] Ulukaya is the owner, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Chobani, the #1-selling strained yogurt brand in the US. He established production facilities first in upstate New York, and since then has expanded. According to Forbes, his net worth as of October 2022 is US$2.1 billion.[3] On 26 April 2016, Ulukaya announced to his employees that he would be giving them 10% of the shares in Chobani.[11]

Ulukaya, a Kurd, has stated his strong commitment to Kurdish rights, citing this as a reason for leaving Turkey due to the Turkish state's oppression of its Kurdish minority.[12] He started a modest feta cheese factory in 2002 on his father's advice. His major success came when he purchased a large, defunct yogurt factory in upstate New York in 2005, located in a region with a rich history in the dairy and cheese industry since the mid-nineteenth century. Chobani achieved over $1 billion in annual sales in less than five years after its launch, becoming the leading yogurt brand in the U.S. by 2011.[13][14][15] Ulukaya was named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year in 2013,[16] and Inc. magazine recognized him as one of the most important entrepreneurs of the past decade in 2019.[17] In July 2022, UN Secretary General António Guterres appointed him as an additional advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.[18]

  1. ^ Caldwell, Michael (2014). The Unknown Billionaires: The life stories of 50 self-made men and women. Mint Associates Limited. p. 172. ISBN 9780978462086.
  2. ^ "The Akıncı Air Base coup attempt indictment". Hürriyet Daily News. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Hamdi Ulukaya". Forbes. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  4. ^ Frankel, Alison (7 April 2014). "Mud-flavored yogurt? Chobani founder, ex-wife wage ugly ownership war". Reuters Blogs. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014.
  5. ^ Schreffler, Laura (9 March 2022). "How Mon Coeur Founder Louise Ulukaya Is Making The World A Better Place". Haute Living.
  6. ^ Abdullahoğlu, Eren (9 April 2014). "Obama honors Turkish entrepreneur Hamdi Ulukaya". Daily Sabah. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2021. I had the happiest day of my life to be here as a Turkish businessman.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference gruley was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference marriage was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Hamdi Ulukaya". Forbes. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  10. ^ Tremblay, Pinar (5 October 2015). "An immigrant himself, Chobani yogurt founder becomes icon for refugees". Al Monitor:The Pulse of the Middle East. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  11. ^ KIM, SUSANNA (27 April 2016). "Chobani CEO Surprises Employees With Ownership Stake in the Company". ABC News.
  12. ^ "Interview with CNN Money". money.cnn.com. 30 January 2017.
  13. ^ Winograd, David. "Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya: Startups Are 'Cool' But Let's Focus On People Who 'Make Things'", Huffington Post. 18 June 2013.
  14. ^ "Chobani Takes Top Spot as America's #1 Selling Yogurt Brand". Reuters. 20 April 2011.
  15. ^ "Chobani Yogurt CEO: I Had No Business Experience". Bloomberg TV. 12 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013" Archived 11 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Ernst & Young. 9 June 2013.
  17. ^ Buchanan, Leigh (24 December 2019). "The Most Important Entrepreneurs of the Past Decade". Inc.com. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  18. ^ "UN Secretary-General António Guterres announces Founder and CEO of Chobani, Mr. Hamdi Ulukaya as SDG Advocate". United Nations. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.