Vehbi Koc

Vehbi Koç was a Turkish 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 Turkey's wealthiest citizens. He was also a well-known philanthropist with interests in health, education and the arts. Vehbi Koç was born in 1901 in Çorakalı, a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood of Ankara. He then lived in a vineyard estate in the Keçiören district, since absorbed into Ankara. Purchased by his father in 1923, the property, which was left vacant after the Kasapyan family moved to Istanbul from Ankara during the so-called Armenian Genocide, was later acquired by Koç and became the Vehbi Koç museum in 1944 after a thorough renovation. [1] Koç began his working career in 1917 at the small grocery store his father opened for him in Ankara. The first firm he established was called Koçzade Ahmet Vehbi and was registered in 1926 at the Ankara Chamber of Commerce. While working in commerce, he became the local partner of Ford Motor Company and Standard Oil (presently Mobil) in 1928. When Ankara became the capital of the young Turkish Republic, construction work increased rapidly and Koç began trading in construction materials, building supplies and hardware. Following the establishment of branch offices in Istanbul and Eskişehir in 1938, he merged all these enterprises into a company called Koç Ticaret A.Ş. In 1942, Vehbi Koç saw the opportunities the Varlık Vergisi (a wealth tax imposed on non-Muslims) afforded him as a businessman and took over many collapsed or confiscated companies. One such acquisition was an Istanbul building owned by an Armenian named Margarios Ohanyan, who had sold a property worth 1.5-2 million liras at market prices through public auction for significantly below its value as he attempted to avoid paying the huge tax hike. Koç, nevertheless, hired many of the former owners and treated them with fairness and without racial prejudice. [2] Following the end of World War II, Koç toured the US in 1946 to meet executives of the businesses with which he was partnering in Turkey. Having convinced General Electric management that it was a good idea, he signed an agreement in 1948 to build a light bulb factory in Turkey, which opened in 1952. During the 1950s Koç factories produced automobiles, household appliances, radiators, electronic devices, textiles and matches. He also founded companies like Bozkurt Mensucat, Arçelik (1955), Demir Döküm (1954), Türkay, Aygaz (1962), Gazal, Türk Elektrik Endüstrisi and a joint cable factory with Siemens. [3] In 1963, he founded Koç Holding, a conglomerate that brought together all the companies he had established or acquired under one roof. Koç Holding became the largest industrial and services group in Turkey, with interests in energy, automotive, consumer durables, finance, tourism, food, retail, construction, information technology, and other sectors. Koç Holding also became the only Turkish company on the Fortune Global 500 list. [4] Vehbi Koç was not only a successful businessman, but also a generous philanthropist. He established the Vehbi Koç Foundation in 1969, which became one of the largest and most influential foundations in Turkey. The foundation supported numerous projects in health, education and culture, such as hospitals, schools, museums, libraries, scholarships, awards, and publications. Among the most notable institutions founded by the Vehbi Koç Foundation are the Koç School, Koç University, Koç Hospital, Sadberk Hanım Museum, and Atatürk Library. [5] Vehbi Koç received many honors and awards for his achievements and contributions, both nationally and internationally. He was the first Turkish person to receive the United Nations Population Award in 1987. He was also awarded the International Chamber of Commerce's Businessman of the Year Award in 1987, the Cavaliere D'Industria medal by the Italian government in 1988, and the Commander of the Order of Leopold II by the Belgian government in 1991. He was also an honorary doctor of several universities, such as Boğaziçi University, Bilkent University, and Johns Hopkins University. [6] Vehbi Koç married his maternal cousin Sadberk in 1926. They had four children: Semahat Sevim Arsel, Rahmi Koç, Sevgi Gönül, and Suna Kıraç. All of them became prominent figures in the Koç Group and the Vehbi Koç Foundation, as well as in Turkish society. Vehbi Koç also had 13 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. [7] On February 25, 1996, Vehbi Koç died of heart failure during a tour in Antalya, where he was on holiday with his daughter Sevgi and son-in-law. The same evening his body was transported to Istanbul by a Koç Holding business jet. On February 27, 1996, following a funeral service at the holding's headquarters and then in Fatih Mosque, he was laid to rest at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery. [8]