The Sabancı family is one of the wealthiest families in

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 ...

. The family's main business entity was founded by

Hacı Ömer Sabancı Hacı Ömer Sabancı (1 January 1906 – 2 February 1966) was a Turkish entrepreneur, who founded a number of companies, which later formed the second largest industrial and financial conglomerate of Turkey, the Sabancı Holding. He initiat ...

in the 1930s. Hacı Ömer Sabancı, the progenitor of the Sabancı family, moved from his native

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 ...

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

in the early 1920s. The family's wealth came from the business ventures established by Hacı Ömer Sabancı in the 1930s, starting with his cotton trading and textile enterprises in Adana, Turkey. After moving from Kayseri to Adana in the early 1920s, Hacı Ömer began as a laborer in cotton plantations before leveraging his skills to start a modest commercial enterprise. Over time, his sons, particularly Sakıp Sabancı and his brothers, built upon this foundation, establishing Sabancı Holding, which controls over 60 companies across diverse sectors including financial services (notably Akbank), energy, cement, retail, and industrial sectors. The conglomerate's partnerships with global firms like Bridgestone, DuPont, and Carrefour further bolstered its wealth. As of 2016, the family's fortune was estimated by Forbes to be between $20–30 billion. Some second and third generation members of the family today control a group of companies under

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 ...

. Most of the companies were established by the efforts of the second generation members of the family,

Sakıp Sabancı Sakıp Sabancı (7 April 1933 – 10 April 2004) was a Turkish business tycoon and philanthropist. Biography He was the second son of a cotton trader and worked in his father's business without completing high school. He was the head of Turkey's ...

Hacı Sabancı Hacı Sabancı (25 June 1935 – 26 June 1998) was a Turkish businessman, philanthropist, and second-generation member of the renowned Sabancı family. He was born in the Akçakaya village of Kayseri Province as the third son of Hacı Ömer Sa ...

Şevket Sabancı Şevket Sabancı (1936 – 22 July 2021) was a Turkish billionaire businessman and philanthropist, and a second-generation member of the Sabancı family. Biography He was born 1936 in Kayseri, Turkey, as the fourth son of Hacı Ömer Sabancı, ...

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

, and

Özdemir Sabancı Özdemir Sabancı (1941 – January 9, 1996) was a Turkish businessman and a second generation member of the Sabancı family. Biography He was born in Adana, Turkey. After finishing high school at the Tarsus American College in Tarsus, provinc ...

. After the death of Sakıp Sabancı, also known as Sakip Aga, in 2004, the granddaughter of the founder,

Güler Sabancı Güler Sabancı (born 1955) is a Turkish businesswoman, a third-generation member of the Sabancı family. Güler Sabancı continue her roles as Chair of the Sabancı Foundation Board of Trustees, Founding Chair of the Sabancı University Board of ...

, was chosen to run Sabancı Holding. However, Güler Sabancı handed over her position to Hayri Çulhacı in 2025, as a first-time non-family Chair of the Board. Some second and third generation members of the family have left their managerial positions at Sabancı Holding and established their own companies such as Esas Holding which owns

Pegasus Airlines Pegasus Airlines () (), sometimes stylized as Flypgs, is a Turkish low-cost airline headquartered in the Kurtköy area of Pendik, Turkey, with bases at several Turkish airports. History Foundation and early years On 1 December 1989, two b ...

, and over the years have become a multi billion dollar alternative investment firm based out of London and Istanbul.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabanci Family Turkish families Sabanci Sabanci Turkish business families

See also

References