Semahat Sevim Arsel (born 1928) is a Turkish

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

businesswoman. She is a director of

Koç Holding Koç Holding A.Ş. () is a Turkish multinational industrial conglomerate headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey. It operates as the country's largest company, and the only to be listed on the Fortune Global 500 as of 2024. Koç Holding's contributio ...

, the largest industrial conglomerate in Turkey, and the eldest child of its founder,

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

(1901–1996). She owns 6.15% of the family business. As of August 2022, her net worth was estimated at US$1.6 billion.

Early life

Arsel was born in Ankara in 1928, the eldest child of

(1901-1996). Arsel graduated from the

American College for Girls The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a highly selective, independent, co-educational, private high school in Turkey. The school is situated in a wooded campus on the European side of Istanbul in ...

in Istanbul.

Career

Arsel founded the

Koç University Koç University () is a private non-profit research university in Istanbul, Turkey. It started education in temporary buildings in İstinye in 1993, and moved to its current Rumelifeneri campus near Sarıyer in 2000. Koç University is ranked hi ...

School of Nursing. As of August 2021, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' estimated her net worth at US$1.9 billion. Arsel is the chairperson of the

Vehbi Koç Foundation The Vehbi Koç Foundation () is one of the biggest non-governmental charitable organizations in Turkey. It was established on January 17, 1969 by the Turkish entrepreneur and philanthropist Vehbi Koç (1901-1996). The foundation is active in the fi ...

Personal life

Her husband Nusret Arsel died in January 2014. They had no children. She lives in Istanbul.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arsel, Semahat Sevim 1928 births Living people Female billionaires Koç family Robert College alumni Turkish billionaires 20th-century Turkish businesspeople 21st-century Turkish businesspeople