Hamdi Ulukaya

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Hamdi Ulukaya delivers remarks after receiving the National Entrepreneurial Success of the Year Award for 2012 by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2012
Born 1972 (age 41–42)
Erzincan,Turkey
Nationality Turkish People-American
Occupation entrepreneur, businessman
Known for founder of Chobani Inc. foods

Hamdi Ulukaya (born 1972) is a Kurdish American businessman.[1] He is the founder and the sole owner of Chobani Inc.

Life

Hamdi Ulukaya was born in 1972 to a Kurdish family who operated a dairy farm in Erzincan, Turkey. Also his origin has come from Pertek, Tunceli Province. He took up political science at the University of Ankara then moved to the United States in 1994 and enrolled at the University of Albany in 1997.[2]

Business

Following the advice of his father, he started a feta cheese company, Euphrates, in upstate New York in 2002.[3] In 2005, he acquired a closed down yogurt factory located in South Edmeston, near Utica, from Kraft and established a new dairy company, Chobani. In 2007 the company started producing Süzme yoğurt (Turkish for strained yogurt), marketed as "Greek Yogurt" popularly. Ulukaya was named a member of The Business Review's class of 2009. 40 Under Forty.[4]

He opened a new $450 million plant in December 2012 in Twin Falls, Idaho, and purchased a dairy farm in Australia in 2012.

According to the Bloomberg, his net worth is estimated at $5.4 billion in 2013 and Chobani is the best-selling yogurt brand in the U.S.[5]

In June 2013 Ulukaya was named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Founder follows his gut instincts, Financial Times, Apr., 09, 2013.
  2. ↑ Hamdi Ulukaya Net Worth, The Richest, Nov., 15, 2013.
  3. ↑ Chobani: The unlikely king of yogurt, Fortune, CNN, Nov. 30, 2011.
  4. ↑ "40 Under Forty: Hamdi Ulukaya", The Business Review (Albany), December 17, 2009
  5. ↑ Billionaires Worth $1.9 Trillion Seek Advantage in 2013, Bloomberg, Jan., 02, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Chobani Founder Named World Entrepreneur 2013". QSR Magazine. 
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