Sabancı chair named most powerful businesswoman

ISTANBUL

Sabancı Holding Chair Güler Sabancı has ranked first on Fortune Turkey’s annual “50 Most Powerful Businesswomen” list, followed by OMV Turkey CEO Gülsüm Azeri and the president of Turkey’s top business organization, Cansen Başaran-Symes. Four top Doğan Group chairs were ranked on this year’s list, which was released on April 13. 

The magazine said it prepared the list upon four main criteria: The volume of the company and its place in the global economy, the performance of the company, general career development of the businesswoman and her contribution to socio-cultural life. A total of 12 new names appear on this year’s list, mainly from the technology, logistic, energy and retail sectors. 

Topping the list was Sabancı, who was praised by the magazine for her bold and successful investments in 2015. OMV’s Azeri, who ranked second, rose to the top with her company’s successful cooperation with leading retail giants as well as several social responsibility projects, which were developed by her mainly to empower women in society. Başaran-Symes, the president of the Turkish Business and Industry Association (TÜSİAD) and the chair of Allianz Turkey, ranked third on the list, as her company posted very high growth rates in 2015 and the TÜSİAD developed a number of leading projects to support entrepreneurship, according to Fortune Turkey. 

The top three was followed by Akbank chair Suzan Sabancı Dinçer, General Electric Turkey CEO Canan Özsoy, ING Bank Turkey CEO Pınar Abay, AvivaSA Insurance CEO Meral Eredenk Kurdaş, Group M CEO and WPP Turkey Director Demet İkiler, Coca-Cola Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia President Galya Frayman Molinas and Boyner Holding board member Ümit Boyner, who is also a former TÜSİAD president. 


Four Doğans on the list 

Four top executives of Doğan Group, which also owns Hürriyet Daily News, took a place on the list. Hürriyet Chairwoman Vuslat Doğan Sabancı ranked 20th on the list and her key steps in digital transformation were praised by the magazine. She was followed by Doğan Online Chairwoman Hanzade Doğan Boyner, who has turned Doğan Online into the largest online corporation in the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) region and enabled one of its companies, Hepsiburada.com, to reach 22 million visitors on a monthly basis. Doğan TV Holding Chair Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, a former TÜSİAD president, ranked 22nd on the Fortune 50 list. Running many TV and radio stations and content production companies, she wants to make the company reach over 100 million viewers in 73 countries in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Eurasia through its content production and distribution facilities, noted the magazine. Doğan Holding Chairwoman Begümhan Doğan Faralyalı ranked 23rd on the list. She runs a conglomerate which employs over 20,000 employees and the group’s consolidated revenue rose 68 percent last year compared to the previous year.