Erol Sabancı (born 1938) is a billionaire Turkish banker and a member of the

Sabancı family The Sabancı family is one of the wealthiest families in Turkey. The family's main business entity was founded by Hacı Ömer Sabancı in the 1930s. Hacı Ömer Sabancı, the progenitor of the Sabancı family, moved from his native Kayseri to Ada ...

. Sabancı is the honorary chairman of Akbank. He has been a board member of Akbank since 1963, Turkey's most valuable and profitable bank.

Early life

Sabancı was born in Akçakaya village in central

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

near the town of

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

in 1938, the fifth son of Hacı Ömer Sabancı, who laid the foundation of one of the greatest fortunes in the world, and Sadıka. Sabancı completed his secondary education at the Tarsus American College. In 1956, he went to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to study at

Manchester College of Commerce Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

. Sabancı returned to Turkey in 1958 and the following year joined the army for his two-year military service.

Career

In 1960, he joined his elder brothers at the holding company as manager of the family flour mill and the financial director of the textile firm Bossa. In 1963, he was elected a board member of Akbank as representative of the Sabancı shares. At that time Akbank, which was formed by a group of industrialists in 1948, had 63 branches and was the smallest of the four large private banks. In 1966, the Sabancıs acquired majority control of Akbank. In 1970, Sabancı quit his other positions in

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 genera ...

, except his chair at the board, and moved to Istanbul to become the managing director of Akbank. Four years later the headquarters of Sabancı Holding were moved to Istanbul. Serving as a member of the board of directors and the vice chairman of the board since 1967, Sabancı held the position of chairman of the board from March 1998 to March 2008. Sabancı was elected honorary chairman and consultant to the board on March 28, 2008. Sabancı also serves as the vice chairman of the board of

Personal life

Sabancı is married to Belkıs and has two daughters, one of whom, Suzan Sabancı Dinçer, is chairman and executive board member of Akbank. Sabancı is a grandfather of four.

References

Biography at Sabancı Holding website

Biography at Akbank website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabanci, Erol Turkish bankers Turkish billionaires Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University People from Kayseri Erol Sabanci 1938 births Living people