Portrait of Murat Ulker

Rank #805

Murat Ulker

Net worth $5.2B

Food · Turkey

Born
Mar 23, 1959
Age
67
Source
Food
Residence
Istanbul
Citizenship
Turkey
Marital status
Married
Children
3
Education
Bachelor of Arts/Science, Bogazici University

Net worth over time

Biography

  • Murat Ulker owns 63% of Yildiz Holding, which produces a wide range of food products and non-alcoholic beverages.
  • Yildiz spent $850 million to buy Belgian chocolatier Godiva in 2007 and $3.2 billion to buy United Biscuits of the U.K. in 2014.
  • To establish a more global structure, he merged United Biscuit, Ulker Biscuit and DeMet's Candy under the roof of London-based Pladis Foods.
  • In early 2019, Godiva announced the sale of parts of its Asia-Pacific business, along with a production facility in Belgium, to PE firm MBK Partners.
  • Yildiz is using some of the proceeds from the sale to expand Godiva's cafe business from 20 stores to more than 2,000 globally by 2025.
  • In 2020, Ulker handed over the chairmanship of Yildiz, which he'd held for 20 years, to his nephew Ali Ulker.
  • In 2014, Ulker donated $24 million to Harvard University. A research facility focused on genetic diseases is named after his father, Sabri Ulker.

Financial assets

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