SABANCI VENTURES - Key Persons
Cenk Alper received his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in 1991. He has a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the same university as well as an MBA from Sabancı University.
Mr. Alper joined the Sabancı Group in 1996 at Beksa, later taking on managing positions in Belgium and the US at Bekaert between 2002 and 2007. In 2007, Mr. Alper returned to Türkiye as the Global Technology Director at Kordsa and completed the establishment of its R&D center and Innovation division. After serving as COO, he led Kordsa's transformation and secondary public offering as CEO between 2013 and 2017. In 2017, he took on a new role as Sabancı Holding Industry Group President. As of August 2019, Cenk Alper is the CEO and Board Member of Sabancı Holding. In recent years, he has been focusing on sustainable growth, entrepreneurship and technology management.
He is a member of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD), the World Economic Forum (WEF), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the CNBC ESG Council, WORLD. MINDS and General Assembly of 30% Club Türkiye Campaign.
Cevdet Alemdar received his BS degree from Industrial Engineering department of Boğaziçi University in 1992 and completed his MBA degree in Sabancı University in 2000.
He joined the group in 1993 and has taken various leadership positions, respectively in Beksa, Sakosa, Kordsa, Temsa Is Makinalari and Brisa. After admistering wire investments serving to manufacturing and construction industries in Türkiye, he has taken on general manager roles in Brazil, Thailand and China, and lead marketing and sales functions in technical textiles for Kordsa in South America and Asia Pacific regions. Returning to Türkiye, he has steered Kordsa's R&D and innovation processes as VP of Technology and Market Development. Later, he guided Temsa Is Makinalari to transform from a construction equipment company to a heavy machines and truck provider in Türkiye. Next, as CEO he led Brisa, a joint venture of Bridgestone ve Sabancı Holding, an important tire manufacturing venture in the world and leader of Türkiye's tire and mobility solutions. From April 2020 onwards, he is Sabancı Holding Industrials SBU President. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Kordsa, Brisa, Temsa Skoda Transportation and Temsa Motorlu Araçlar.
He is TÜSİAD's board member, DEİK / Türkiye - USA Business Council (TAİK) board member and Boğaziçi University alumni.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Sustainability
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Treasury and Corporate Finance Director
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Brand Communications
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors at Sabancı Holding
Elçin Melisa Sabancı Tapan earned her BA in International Relations and Psychology at Richmond University in London before completing her graduate studies at Columbia University in New York in Economic and Political Development. During these years, she pursued additional training at consultancy companies including BCG and PWC, the International Energy Agency, and Sabancı Holding; she later completed a management trainee program at Marshall Wace.
Melisa has worked in several fields pursuing diverse projects ranging from financial inclusion to sustainable industry. Focusing her knowledge and experience around initiatives targeting social impact, she founded Gate 27 in 2019 to enable value creators, artists and projects centered on sustainability and economic development. She has since overseen its growth, establishing collaborations with leading institutions in the art world.
Melisa concentrates on social entrepreneurship in both her professional and personal work. She supports the Sabancı Foundation, and in line with its vision and that of Sabancı University and the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, acts as an advisor in social responsibility projects with a number of different civil society organizations.
Melisa is currently a member of the board of directors at Sabancı Holding. She is a member of the Tate International Committee, LEGADO, and Arya Women Investors Platform.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Financial Affairs and Investor Relations
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Planning, Reporting and Financing
Erol Sabancı served as a member of the Akbank Board of Directors between 1967 and March 2018. For a decade beginning from March 1998 Erol Sabancı was the Chairman of the Board of Directors. He has been a Consultant to the Board of Directors since 26 March 2018. Erol Sabancı also serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sabancı Holding.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Corporate Communications
Job Titles:
- Head of Audit and Secretary General
- Sabancı Holding As Head of Audit
Fuat Öksüz graduated from Business Administration Department of Boğaziçi University in 1986 and started his career in Andersen İstanbul Office as assistant auditor in the same year. He worked in this company by the end of 2002, became local partner in 1997 and international partner in 2000. He worked as an independent auditor and financial advisor in the first 10 years of his business life. Later on, Fuat Öksüz led the foundation, took leadership of Andersen Business Process Outsourcing practice and further took the leadership of Andersen Business Consulting Practice.
In 2003, he joined Ernst & Young as a Partner and served for one year. In January 2004, Fuat Öksüz joined Sabancı Holding as Head of Audit, also chaired Sabancı Board of Ethics. Mr. Öksüz worked in Enerjisa between 2010 - 2017 taking various responsibilities including; CFO of Enerjisa Generation Company and Enerjisa Trading Company with dual management responsibility with CEO, Enerjisa Group Head of Planning & Controlling, Head of Accounting, Reporting & Tax and Head of Special Projects (restructuring and IPO).
Fuat Öksüz has been serving as Sabancı Holding Head of Audit and Chair of Sabancı Holding Ethics Board since 2018. Further to existing responsibilities, he has also taken the role of Secretary General since July 2022.
Job Titles:
- Strategy & Business Development
Gökhan Eyigün graduated from Management Engineering Department of İstanbul Technical University with honors degree in 1998. He had his MBA degree from Rotterdam School of Management in 2004; moreover, he attended several executive programs at Harvard Business School.
Mr. Eyigün started his career at Arthur Andersen in 1998 where he was mainly specialized in Corporate Finance Advisory. He, then, took responsibility in the formation of Corporate Finance and M&A Advisory department at PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2004 and led the department afterwards. In 2007, Mr. Eyigün joined Sabancı Group where he contributed to Strategy and Business Development department at various executive roles until 2018. He served as the Secretary General of Sabancı Holding and the General Manager of Exsa, Tursa and AEO companies between 2018 and 2021; and he worked as the Executive Board Member of Temsa Motor Vehicles between 2020 and 2021, in addition. He was appointed as the Group President of Strategy and Business Development at Sabancı Holding in 2021. Mr. Eyigün is also the Vice Chairman of the Board at Afyon Çimento, Çimsa, Exsa and Temsa Motorlu Araçlar. He is a member of Board at Dx Technology Services and Investment BV (SabancıDx BV), SabancıDx, Carrefoursa and Temsa Skoda Ulaşım Araçları. He is responsible from Sabancı Ventures and Sabancı ARF Almost Ready to Fly at the same time.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chairman of Sabancı Holding
- Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sabancı Foundation
Güler Sabancı was born in Istanbul. After finishing high school education at TED Ankara College, Sabancı graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Business Administration.
Güler Sabancı is the Chair of Sabancı Holding since 2004, one of the leading and most reputable multi-business groups of Türkiye, operating in 14 countries.
Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Sabancı Foundation, Güler Sabancı is also the Founding Chair of Sabancı University and Chair of the Sakıp Sabancı Museum. The first female member of the European Round Table for Industry, she sits on the MIT Energy Initiative's External Advisory Board. She is also a member of The Trilateral Commission and TÜSİAD.
Besides being an effective industrialist, prominent business figure, and renowned art- enthusiast, she has also been accepted as one of the most influential women in the region for her work on gender equality and social development. Her remarkable success has been recognized internationally with numerous awards, including the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award, the Clinton Global Citizen Award, the Raymond Georis Prize for Innovative Philanthropy, and the European School of Management Responsible Leadership Award.
She is the author of the book "Founding a University", published in 2020.
Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding A.Ş. (Sabancı Holding), Türkiye's leading conglomerate, is a holding company engaged in a wide variety of business activities through its subsidiaries and affiliates, mainly in the banking, financial services, energy, industrials, building materials, digital and retail sectors. Sabancı Holding is domiciled in the Republic of Türkiye, with headquarters in İstanbul.
Sabancı Holding coordinates and supports the finance, strategy, business development, legal, human capital and sustainability functions of Group companies. The Holding aims to ensure that Group companies operate in a manner that is profitable and sustainable with favorable competitive conditions. In addition, Sabancı Holding sets and monitors the corporate governance practices that apply across Sabancı Group.
Sabancı Holding is managed by an Executive Committee, a team of top level executives including the Chief Executive Officer, Group Chief Financial Officer, Strategic Business Unit Presidents and function-based Group Presidents.
Haluk Dinçer has a BSE degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Michigan.
After starting his career at General Motors Technical Center in 1985, Mr. Dinçer joined Sabancı Group in August 1995, serving initially as Executive Board Member, and then in December 1995, as Executive Vice Chairman of Temsa. In October 2001, he assumed responsibilities within the Holding company, first as Food Group Vice President, and six months later, as Holding Executive Board Member and Food Group President. He took over as Food and Retail Group President in September 2004, and after organizational restructuring in March 2011, as Retail and Insurance Group President. In June 2016, Mr. Dinçer was named Insurance Group President and later in April 2020, Financial Services Group President. With this role, he currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Aksigorta, Agesa, Exsa, Tursa and Ankara Enternasyonel Otelcilik, as well as Board Member of Brisa.
Haluk Dinçer served as President of TÜSİAD - Turkish Industry and Business Association in 2014-15, and as President of Türkiye-U.S. Business Council (TAİK) in 2008-14. He has been a Board Member of the Global Relations Forum (GRF) since February 2018 and a member of the Geneva Association since June 2019.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Sustainability Committee
- Member of Sustainability Committee
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Independent Board Member
Having graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences in 1978, Hayri Çulhacı obtained his MBA degree from Northeastern University, USA in 1986.
Between 1979 and 1990, he assumed various audit and management positions at the Ministry of Finance.
Having joined Akbank as Executive Vice President in 1990, Mr. Çulhacı became an Executive Director in 2009 and also served as the Vice President of the Executive Board, Chairman of Audit Committee, Corporate Management Committee and High Level Risk Committee from 2010 on. He was retired in 2020.
Hayri Çulhacı was also a member of the Board of Aksigorta A.Ş. and Avivasa and Chairman of Ak Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş. and Ak Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş. He is still the Vice Chairman and a member of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Independent Board Member
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Sustainability Committee
- Member of Sustainability Committee
Starting his career in 1976 at the Siemens manufacturing facility focusing on telecommunication, Gelis worked in R&D, production, PBX systems, planning, logistics organization, and strategic purchasing groups successively. Assigned to Siemens India as CFO and Vice President in 2000, Hüseyin Gelis was selected one of the "Top 10 CFOs" within the Fortune 500 companies in Business Today's list of 2005. He was assigned as the CEO and President of Siemens Turkey on October 1, 2007. As Chief Executive Officer, Hüseyin Gelis is responsible for overall strategic management and leadership for all Siemens activities in Turkey.
In 2015, he took over the Presidency of TÜSİAD's Germany Network and became a member to the G20/B20 Turkey Digitalization Task Force. Hüseyin Gelis is also a Board Member of YASED since 2017 and the Vice Chairman as of February 2019. Hüseyin Gelis signed PWN's CEO Manifesto in Support of Social Gender Equality in 2018 and became an Equality Ambassador. He also acts as a Member of High Advisory Board of Darüşşafaka Association.
Gelis was rewarded the Order of Merit by the German President for his contributions to building economic, political and cultural bonds between Turkey and Germany.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Accounting
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Investor Relations
Job Titles:
- Independent Board Member
- Member of the Sustainability Committee
- Member of Corporate Governance, Nomination and Remuneration Committee
- Member of Sustainability Committee
Mehmet Kahya received his double major BS degree in Chemical Engineering and Economics from Yale University and his MBA with majors in Finance, Marketing and Quantitative Methods from Kellogg School of Management.
He started his career as Management Services Manager at Sasa (1975-80) and later was Founder and Managing Director of MKM BV (Holland, 1980-84) and of Sibernetik Sistemler (1984-86). Mehmet Kahya rejoined Sabancı Group in 1986 as Automotive Group Vice President and was EVP/President of Temsa (1986-90) and Member of the Presidency of Toyotasa (1990-94) while serving as Member of the Management and Planning Council of Sabancı Holding and as Member of the Boards of Temsa, Toyotasa, Susa and Sapeksa.
In the period 1994-2006, various positions held by Mr. Kahya was Managing Director and Vice Chairman of the Board of CarnaudMetalbox, President of Uzel Makina and Member of the Executive Committee of Uzel Holding, General manager and Group Vice President of DYO, Member of the Executive Committee of Sarten Ambalaj, Shareholder and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Gierlings Velpor (Portugal, 2002- 2005), President of Assan Alüminyum.
Since 2006, he is advising boards/ shareholders as the Founder and Principal of Kronus. Currently he serves as an independent member on the Board of Directors at Brisa; member of the board at Temsa and Electrosalus Biyomedikal; and as shareholder advisor at various companies.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Digital Holding Program Director
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Member of Sabancı Holding
- Chairman of Akbank
- Member of Corporate Governance, Nomination and Remuneration Committee
- Member of the Institute of International Finance Board of Directors
Suzan Sabancı Dinçer is the Chairman of Akbank. Mrs. Sabancı Dinçer is also a board member of Sabancı Holding and a member of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University and the Sabancı Foundation. In 2009, Mrs. Sabancı Dinçer founded the Akbank International Advisory Board and currently serves as its chairman.
Mrs. Sabancı Dinçer is a member of the Institute of International Finance Board of Directors and Emerging Markets Advisory Board as well as Harvard University's Global Advisory Council. Suzan Sabancı Dinçer is also co-chair of the New York-based American-Turkish Society, as well as a member of the Global Board of Advisors at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the Board of Managing Directors of Venetian Heritage, Inc, and the Cultural and Social Affairs Committee of the Serpentine Council respectively.
From 2010 to 2014, Suzan Sabancı Dinçer served as the chairman of the Turkish-British Business Council for two terms. From 2009 to 2016, Mrs. Sabancı Dinçer sat on the Global Board of Advisors of Chatham House. Between 2014 and 2018, Mrs. Sabancı Dinçer acted as the Advisory Board President of the Women on Board Association Türkiye, dedicated to promoting social development by increasing female representation on boards. She is a founding member and board member of Endeavor Türkiye, a founding and honorary member of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye, and chairman of the Executive Advisory Board and member of the board of patrons of the Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Risk
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Human Resources and Labor Relations
Orhun Köstem received his bachelor's degree from Middle East Technical University Mechanical Engineering Department in 1991 and his MBA degreed at the same university. He also has a master's degree in Finance and Corporate Law from Bilgi University.
Mr. Köstem joined Anadolu Group in 1994 and held various management positions until 2008. In 2008, he was appointed as the CFO of Efes Breweries International and in 2009 continued his career as Corporate Finance Coordinator of Anadolu Group. Orhun Köstem pursued his career in Coca-Cola İçecek where he worked from 2010 to 2016 as the CFO and from 2017 to 2018 as the Regional Director responsible for Middle East and Pakistan. Mr. Köstem served as the CFO of Anadolu Efes between 2019 and 2021. Mr. Köstem is the Group CFO of Sabancı Holding since July 1, 2021. He is also the Chairman of Carrefoursa, Vice Chairman of Sabancı Climate Technologies, Supervisory Board Member of Çimsa Sabancı Cement BV and Member of the Board of Directors of Akbank, Kordsa, Enerjisa Enerji and Enerjisa Üretim.
Mr. Köstem is one of the three authors of the book "A Window to Capital Markets: The A to Z of Public Offering and Investor Relations" published in 2009. In 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021 he was listed among "Türkiye's Most Influential 50 CFOs", according to a research conducted by BMI Business School in collaboration with DataExpert. He was awarded as Türkiye's Best CFO in the Investor Relations Awards organized by Thomson Reuters Extel in 2011 and 2013, while he was also honored with the "Best CFOs" by Sell Side analysts in Consumer Sector in Emerging EMEA by Institutional Investor Magazine and Institutional Investor Research Group in 2020. He was ranked as Best CFO in Industrials Sector in the Emerging EMEA Region by Instutional Investor in 2022 and he was named among C-Suite Series - Fortune CFO 2022 list. He is also a member of CFA Society and CFO Network of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Security Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Corporate Brand Management and Communications
Pelin Erkıralp graduated from Boğaziçi University Economics Department in 1996 and began her career at Unilever as a Brand Manager.
She managed Hair Care businesses in Unilever Africa, Middle East and Türkiye between 2002- 2006 leading innovation and harmonization across the region. In 2006 Mrs. Erkıralp moved to Citibank as Vice President Marketing managing marketing for retail & commercial banking businesses. After joining Philip Morris Sabancı in 2009 and pursuing several leadership positions in Türkiye, she undertook the management of Marlboro brand globally in Philip Morris International headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland between 2012-2013. Following her return to Türkiye, she was appointed Marketing Director in Philip Morris Sabancı for 4.5 years. Mrs. Erkıralp started to work with LC Waikiki as Assistant General Manager Marketing in 2017, and managed various transformation projects that supported the company's expansion domestically and abroad. She undertook the position of Chief Marketing Officer in Kızılay Yatırım Holding between 2019-2020, and led marketing function of 8 companies within the holding.
She joined Sabancı Holding as Corporate Brand Management and Communications President in 2020. She is also a member of the board at Carrefoursa and Temsa Motorlu Araçlar.
Job Titles:
- Director - Strategy and Business Development
Job Titles:
- Member of Corporate Governance, Nomination and Remuneration Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors at Sabancı Holding
Serra Sabancı was born in Adana in 1975. She graduated from the University of Portsmouth, and then from the Istanbul Bilgi University Department of Economics at the top of her class. She began her professional career at Temsa, then received training on mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance at the Institute of Directors (IoD) in London.
Acting as a Board Member and Acting Chair at various Sabancı Group companies, including in textiles, chemicals, automotive, and cement, Serra Sabancı also served on the Audit Committee for five years at Sabancı Holding.
Serra Sabancı is currently a Member of the Board of Directors at Sabancı Holding, and a Member of the Board of Trustees at Sabancı University and the Sabancı Foundation. She leads and supervises the Foundation's project on environmental awareness and animal rights protection for preschool and primary age groups.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- Director - Human Resources
Job Titles:
- Director - Strategy and Business Development
Job Titles:
- Director - Strategy and Business Development
Job Titles:
- Director - Strategy and Business Development
Job Titles:
- Human Capital and Sustainability
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Management Team
- President - Tax, Accounting and Financial Regulations