Sakıp Sabancı (born on Apr. 7, 1933 in Kayseri, Turkey; died on Apr. 10, 2004 in Istanbul, Turkey) was one of the earliest leaders of Turkey’s private sector, establishing Sabancı Holding, one of the country’s largest family-owned businesses. Apart from being a successful businessman, his affable charm made him a famous and influential Turkish entrepreneur, being known as Sakıp Ağa, or the big man of the village, with his deliberate provincial drawl and humorous personality. Sabancı was also a leading philanthropists, building educational and cultural institutions in many corners of Turkey and generously sharing his rich collection of calligraphy and paintings with the world.
Early Life
Sabancı was born in the small village of Akçakaya, in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri in 1933, the second of six sons of cotton trader Hacı Ömer Sabancı. At the time of his birth, his family was living in the fertile province of Adana, where his father developed a business that started as commerce first, then moved to agriculture after they became landowners, and finally industry by owning factories. Hacı Ömer’s passion for business enabled the young Sabancı to enter business life at an early age. Despite enjoying village life in Akçakaya during summer, he began to spend less time there after starting work in his father’s enterprises. He first started at the cotton-ginning plant and then worked as a clerk in Akbank when he was in middle school from 1940 on. Akbank opened for business in 1948 with Hacı Ömer holding a 15% share, together with five founding partners. The name Ak, or white, represented the initials of Adana’daki Kayserililer, which translates to Kayseri men in Adana, and symbolized the color of the cotton which was the source of the partners’ wealth.
Sakıp Sabancı never finished high school, suffering from three bouts of pneumonia. His family started to call him “Seedy Sakıp,” due to daily injections and medicines he received. After staying in the same class for three years, he was obliged to leave school in 1950. Despite dreaming of becoming a film star at the age of fifteen, he became a cashier at a flour mill at his father’s request. Later on, he worked in the accounts section of the flour mill and began looking after the purchases, utilizing experiences he gained as a trainee at Akbank. Having felt the need for a foreign language, he learned English from an American First Sergeant, Ross, who was stationed at the U.S. Air Force Base in Adana from 1952 to 1953.
Meanwhile, the company which was to become Hacı Ömer’s first major investment in heavy industry, Bossa, was founded in 1954, dividing half the company with partners. The origin of the company’s name is believed to be a combination of Bos, as the partners were Bosnians, and Sa from Sabancı. The letters SA later became the logo for the Sabancı group. Sabancı started to work as an assistant general manager in Bossa’s textile division in 1957. During these years, he was diagnosed with rheumatic fever without comprehending the seriousness of his illness. He went on to visit doctors and clinics in Europe several times for treatment.
Sakıp Sabancı and his wife Türkan Sabancı (R).
In 1957, he married his cousin, Türkan Sabancı. The wedding took place in the garden of the Bossa factory. Unaware of the potential ill effects of marriage with a close family, his first daughter, Dilek, was born prematurely in 1964 and her feet was crooked. Later, his son Metin was born with brain defects. Fortunately, his third child, Sevil, was born as a healthy baby. After years of sorrow, his son’s incurable illness encouraged him to use his financial resources to establish institutions for spastic children in order to improve their health and living conditions.
The Sabancı Business Empire
As Turkey began to industrialize in the 1960s, Sabancı started to build up a regional business empire together with his father and five brothers. Starting in 1964, he began to hold certain positions in several chambers of commerce and the Association of Chambers, the most respected private sector trade organization in Turkey. He chaired Adana and Kocaeli Chambers of Industry and served as the member and chairman of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey for 25 years.
When Hacı Ömer died in 1966, the majority of his shares in all his business were transferred to the family. Only three months before his death, the majority of holding in Akbank had come into the hands of the Sabancı family. With the era of holdings being established with Koç Holding, owned by Vehbi Koç, the Sabancı brothers followed the same pattern as a way of seeking corporate structures in industrialization, and set up Sabancı Holding, headquartered in Adana in 1967. While his brothers occupied senior roles, Sabancı was recognized as the driving force and was elected as chairman of the board by his brothers at the first board meeting. Family unity and solidarity were among the most important assets for Sabancı; the brothers always showed respect for one another and together they held a meeting every two months.
The Sabancı Holding founded several companies over the years, including Akçimento and İnsa in 1967; Sasa and Temsa in 1968; Olmuksa, Plassa and Ayeksa in 1969; Teksa and Pilsa in 1971; Çimsa and Akkardan in 1972; Yünsa and Kordsa in 1973; and Lassa in 1974. Turgut Özal, the former Turkish prime minister and president, and one of Sabancı’s coordinators, persuaded him to move the headquarters from Adana to Istanbul in 1974. After moving to Istanbul, he purchased Atlı Köşk, or The Mansion with the Horse, on the Bosphorus, where he lived starting in 1974. The home hosted his rich collection of calligraphy and paintings.
Over years, the holding grew into an internationally significant conglomerate with around 60 companies in tourism, textiles, food, cars, tobacco, chemicals, and banking. The Sabancı group negotiated with multinational companies for licenses, know-how, and capital partnerships within Turkey. Some of these companies included Du Pont, Toyota, Philip Morris, Kraft Foods, IBM, Goodyear, Uniroyal, Bayer, Shell Overseas Ltd., Mitsubishi, Komatsu. The partnership between Akbank and Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP), one of the largest banks in France and the fifth largest in the world, came about at the request of the BNP. The Sabancı group also entered into a partnership with the world’s largest hotel chain, Hilton, to build a hotel in Ankara.
Museum, Art, and Charitable Foundations
During 1980s, Sabancı began to get involved more with the community and social problems, while at the same time his health declined, with two heart operations in the United States. However, his passion for calligraphy and manuscripts of the Koran did not hinder his visit to Moscow as Turkey’s cultural ambassador, despite having a heart surgery. With his activities in art and education being diverse, Sabancı took over as Board Chairman of TUSIAD (Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association) in 1986, and chaired its High Advisory Council between 1987 and 1990. While his energy seemed undiminished, the murder of his youngest brother, Özdemir Sabancı, by a terrorist group that had infiltrated his office in 1996 was a heavy blow for the entire Sabancı family.
Sabancı generously shared his collection of art with people. In 1998, the elegant Atlı Köşk was bequeathed to Sabancı University by the Sabancı family to be transformed into a museum, the only private Turkish museum to have established a major international reputation. The exhibition areas of the museum opened to visitors in 2002, with a further extension of the layout in 2005 as the technical level of the museum reached international standards.
Due to his penchant to enhance the quality of higher education through scholarships by the Hacı Ömer Sabancı Foundation and establishing Sabancı University, Sabancı was honored with a doctor honoris causa by Eskişehir Anadolu University in 1984, as well as from New Hampshire University in 1986, İstanbul Yıldız Technical University in 1992, Kayseri Erciyes University in 1993, İstanbul Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Girne American University and Edirne Trakya University in 1997, Washington Southeastern University in 1998, Çukurova University in 1999, and Kırıkkale University in 2002.
Meanwhile, in 1997, he was honored by the Turkish President with the Turkish State’s Outstanding Service Medal, by the European Institute of Economy based in Zurich, Switzerland with the “European Global Crystalm Award,” and by the Society of Law Sovereign with “High Quality Honorary Award.” Sabancı stressed the importance of having met three American presidents: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and becoming friends with them with the aim of benefitting Turkey. He also hosted the former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz, Prince Albert, and the brother of the Belgian king at his home.
Sabancı died of kidney cancer in Istanbul on Apr. 10, 2004 at the age of 71. Despite being a shrewd entrepreneur, he changed perceptions of businessmen with his folksy charm, humbleness, and kindness, and has been engraved in the mind of Turkish people as Sakıp Ağa. After years of effort to aid Turkey’s economic and cultural development, he was honored with an unusual state funeral and was laid to rest at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.
