Rahmi Koç
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rahmi M. Koç (b. 1930 in Ankara), is a Turkish business tycoon and an philanthropist.
Born as the only son of Turkey’s wealthiest man Vehbi Koç, he attended high school at Robert College in Istanbul after his primary education in Ankara. Rahmi Koç then studied at the Johns Hopkins University in the USA and received his B.A. in Industrial Management.
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[edit] Career
Following his military service, he started actively working for the Koç Group in 1958 joining the Otokoç Company in Ankara. In 1960, he transferred to Koç Ticaret, which represented the Koç Group in Ankara. Following the relocation of the Koç Holding headquarters from Ankara to Istanbul in 1964, which was established a year ago, he became general coordinator of Koç Holding A.Ş. and moved to Istanbul.
Thereafter in 1970, he became chairman of the executive committee and in 1975 deputy chairman of the board of management. Rahmi Koç was appointed chairman of the Koç Holding management committee in 1980. His father Vehbi Koç transferred his chairmanship to his son on March 30, 1984. Rahmi Koç retired from this duty on April 4, 2003 transferring his chair to his eldest son Mustafa Koç. Rahmi Koç is currently Honorary Chairman of the Koç Holding.
He has three sons: Mustafa Vehbi (1960), Ömer Mehmet (1962) and Ali Yıldırım (1967).
[edit] Koç Holding
Vehbi Koç, who died in 1996 at the age of 95, created the Koç Holding Corp., Turkey's largest industrial conglomerate. By first forming joint ventures with General Electric to make light bulbs and Ford Motor Co. to build buses and trucks, and continually expanding his activities, Koç built up an empire that, according to the Financial Times generates nearly 5% of Turkish exports. Koç Holding Corp. has more than $12 billion in sales annually and employs 40,000 people.
[edit] Social life
During the meeting of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on November 7, 1994, Rahmi Koç was elected as the Chairman of the ICC for the term 1995-1996.
Rahmi Koç is a Rotarian and a member of the Istanbul Open Sea Yacht Club and New York Yachting Club.
Visit to Henry Ford Museum in Michigan inspired him to create the Rahmi M Koç Museum in Istanbul, which is dedicated to the history of transport, industry and communications exhibiting trains, submarines and autos.
The company and the Koç Foundation are known for their commitment to philanthropy, especially in the area of education.
[edit] Honorary doctorates
Rahmi Koç received honorary doctorates from following Turkish and American universities:
- May 21, 1998 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- September 28, 1998 Anadolu Üniversitesi, Eskişehir
- May 14, 1999 Ege Üniversitesi, İzmir
- June 14, 1999 Bilkent Üniversitesi, Ankara
- April 23, 2001 Ovidius University, Constanţa, Romania.
[edit] Awards
He was awarded by various national and international institutions as listed below:
- German "Großes Verdienstkreuz" (Great Cross of Merit)
- June 18, 2001 Italian "Ordine al Merito della Repubblica" (Order of Merit of the Republic)
- October 27, 1997 Turkish "State High Service Medal" by President Suleyman Demirel.
