The list of Turkey’s billionaires can vary annually, depending on their latest net worth and financial performance. Each year, global magazines like Forbes employ a large team of reporters from many countries to track the activities of the world's wealthiest people. Usually these researches receive three types of results: some people try to inflate their wealth, others cooperate but do not mention all details, and some refuse to cooperate or answer any question. In general, reporters scrutinize and estimate valuable assets; land, homes, vehicles, artwork. They also do interviews to get the figures and improve the estimate of an individual's holdings. Finally, the positions are priced in a publicly traded stock to market on a date roughly a month before publication. Since stock prices change rapidly, an individual's true wealth and ranking at the time of publication may vary from their situation when the list is compiled.

Turkish billionaires in Forbes’ list of the 2023 world billionaires list

According to Forbes’ annual report of the world’s billionaires list for 2023, the French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault is the world’s richest billionaire, the 74-year-old engineer tops the 2023 list with a $211-billion fortune. Forbes confirmed that the wealth of about half of the billionaires decreased compared to last year; a total of 254 people were out of the list, where the net worth of the world’s billionaires dropped to $12.2 trillion over the past year.

Moreover, about 26 names from Turkey entered the 2023 billionaires list that was published by Forbes. According to the list, İbrahim Erdemoğlu, the Chairman of Erdemoğlu Holding, has officially surpassed Yıldız Holding chair Murat Ülker to take the title of Turkey’s richest billionaire, and the 497th richest person in the world in 2023, with a fortune of 5.3 billion dollars. On the other hand, Turkey’s wealthiest woman on the list, was Semahat Sevim Arsel, one of Koç Holding’s largest shareholders, with a fortune of $3 billion. It is worth mentioning that only three names from the Koç family made it to the list.

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Turkey billionaires list 2023

The Forbes list of the richest Turks has settled the race between İbrahim Erdemoğlu and Murat Ülker, who has been on the throne of the richest man in Turkey for several years, as Forbes announced through its annual report that Erdemoğlu is on the throne of the richest billionaire in Turkey with an estimated fortune of $5.5 billion. The following list shows 20 Turkish billionaires, according to a Forbes’ report in 2023.

Ibrahim Erdemoglu: $5.5 billion
Murat Ulker: $4.9 billion
Ali Erdemoglu: $4.8 billion
Nihat Ozdemir: $2.7 billion
Sezai Bacaksiz: $2.7 billion
Ferit Faik sahenk: $2.5 billion
Filiz Sahenk: $2.4 billion
Semahat Sevim Arsel: $2.4 billion
Erman Ilicak: $2.3 billion
Mustafa Rahmi Koc: $2.1 billion
Hamidi Ulukaya: $2.0 billion
Ipek Kirac: $1.8 billion
Bulent Eczacibasi: $1.7 billion
Faruk Eczacibasi: $1.7 billion
Mehmet Sinan Tara: $1.7 billion
Ahmet calik: $1.5 billion
Hamdi Akin & family: $1.5 billion
Deniz Sahenk: $1.4 billion
Mehmet Aydinlar: $1.3 billion
Aydin Dogan: $1.2 billion

Learn about the most famous Turkish billionaires and the source of their wealth

İbrahim Erdemoğlu

Erdemoğlu is a Turkish businessman and billionaire. He was born in 1962 in Besmi. He continued his education in Gaziantep until high school. He started his business life in 1983, and in 1998 he founded Merinos Halı, which is one of the leading companies in the world carpet industry. After his success in this field, he took over Dinarsu Carpet in 2005. İbrahim Erdemoğlu has contributed to the development of the city where he was born through social and charity projects. He donated many buildings, from mosques, schools, museums, police stations, student houses, parks, and health centers, to the people of his country. He also established Mehmet Erdemoğlu College of Engineering and Architecture.

Murat Ülker

Ülker, who was born in 1959 in Istanbul, is a Turkish billionaire businessman, and the chairman of Yıldız Holding which started out as a small confectionery business in the 1940s, and is now the largest food company in Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. After completing his education in the United States, Ülker returned to his country and joined the family business. He quickly rose through the ranks and was appointed as the CEO of Yildiz Holding in 2000. In 2008 he became the chairman of Yildiz Holding, which has grown to become one of the world's largest food companies, during then, with over 320 brands, 320 factories, and 80,000 employees in 50 countries. In 2016, Yildiz formed a new global business, by bringing together three of its brands: Ülker, United Biscuits, and DeMet’s Candy Company. In 2009, the Ülker family established the Sabri Ulker Foundation to make a permanent contribution to public health in terms of food and nutrition. In 2014, the Ülker family contributed $24 million to Harvard University which was distributed over 10 years, to support the Sabri Ülker Center for Nutrient, Genetic, and Metabolic Research in order to help people with illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Nihat Özdemir

Özdemir was born on April 5, 1950 in Diyarbakır, where he completed his primary, secondary and high school education. He started his university education in Ankara in 1967 and graduated from the faculty of Engineering and Architecture at Gazi University as a mechanical engineer. Later, he went to Ege University and got a master's degree in economics.

Nihat Özdemir is the founding partner of Limak Holding with his friend Sezai Bacaksız. He founded LİMAK İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. In 1976, the company undertook the construction of new works in terms of constructing dams, irrigation facilities, pipelines, treatment plants, roads and factories in turkey. Nihat Özdemir served as the chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Industry in the 90s. Between 1995-1996, he joined Fenerbahçe management with Ali Şen. He started working with Aziz Yıldırım in 2000. He entered the tourism sector in 1995, the energy sector in 1997 and the cement sector in 2000. In 2008, he stepped into the airport operations sector. In the same year, he opened Limkon Concentrated Fruit Juice Facilities and made a new start in the food industry. Nihat Özdemir, who is still the Chairman of the Board of Directors of LİMAK Holding, is also the former 2nd President of Fenerbahçe Sports Club. Özdemir, who also served as the chairman of the Turkish Contractors Association, is a shareholder of Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport.

Semahat Arsel

Arsel is the wealthiest Turkish woman, according to Forbes’ report from 2023. She was born in 1928 in Ankara. She is the eldest daughter of Vehbi Koç and a board member of Koç Holding. She graduated from the American University, speaking English and German besides her mother tongue. Between 1964 and 1972, she served as a member of the Koç Holding board of directors and a board member of the Vehbi Koç Foundation. Arsel is also a founding member of the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey. She is the second president of the Florence Nightingale Foundation and the founder of Koç University School of Nursing. For now, she is the President of TURYAT and SANERC (Semahat Arsel Nursing Educational & Research Center). Arsel was elected as a tax record holder in 2012. According to data announced by the Ministry of Finance Revenue Administration in 2015, she became the second highest taxpayerin Turkey, in 2014.

Top richest Turkish families

According to a report conducted by Hürriyet Daily News, the top richest turkish families including, but not limited:

The Koç: The Koç family is considered one of the wealthiest families in Turkey. The family owns Koç Holding, which works in a wide range of sectors including energy, finance, consumer goods, and others. Their fortune is estimated at more than 8 billion dollars.

The Şahenk: They own the Doğuş Group, which operates in various sectors including tourism, media, and entertainment. Their fortune is estimated at about 7-8 billion dollars.

The Sabancı: The Sabancı family is another rich Turkish family with a diverse range of businesses. They own Sabancı Holding, which operates in various sectors including banking, energy, and retail. Their fortune is estimated at 7-8 billion dollars.

The Eczacıbaşı: is a wealthy Turkish family of business people founded by Süleyman Ferit Eczacıbaşı; a self-made wealthy pharmacist. They own the Eczacıbaşı Holding and other related companies.

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