Ms. Güler Sabancı is among the most powerful women in the world again
MS. GÜLER SABANCI IS AMONG THE MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN THE WORLD AGAIN…
FORTUNE: “MS. GÜLER SABANCI IS A POWERFUL AMBASSADOR FOR TURKEY.”
“MS. GÜLER SABANCI BROKE NEW GROUND MANY TIMES.”
Acting as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sabancı Holding, Ms. Güler Sabancı ranked number 7 in “The International List of Most Powerful Businesswomen of the World” which has been prepared by Fortune, the most prestigious business magazine in the world, for the first time this year. The magazine also prepared an article describing Ms. Güler Sabancı. In the article, which mentions that Ms. Güler Sabancı has broken new ground many times, it is further emphasised that she is a leading benefactress.
The Fortune magazine introduces Ms. Güler Sabancı as follows, “Ms. Güler Sabancı has been managing the family business with a value of 17.6 billion USD for over 10 years under the challenging conditions faced in Turkey. Consisting of finance, industry, retail and energy companies, the Group is one of the largest groups in the country. Despite the terrorist attacks, a failed coup attempt and the refugee crisis in the region, the Group achieved a certain level of acceleration. Particularly the fast-growing business line of energy, half of which consists of renewable energy, increased its incomes and profit.” Mentioning that the Sabancı University was founded in 1994 under the leadership of Ms. Güler Sabancı in the name of the family, the article also specifies that Ms. Güler Sabancı is an active benefactress and a voice for the empowerment of women both in Turkey and in the world.
In its article “The Most Powerful Businesswomen of Turkey”, Fortune refers to the current conditions of Turkey such as the state of emergency after the failed coup attempt, terrorist attacks and the refugee crisis and reports that Sabancı maintained its success under these challenging conditions.
The article goes on as follows, “The Group increased its sales at the rate of 22% and its profits at the rate of 11% in the first half of the year. Being the third-generation manager of her family and ranked seventh in the list of Fortune, Ms. Güler Sabancı is sure that her country will overcome these difficulties and she suggests that Turkey has an unbelievable recovery power. Ms. Güler Sabancı is quite familiar with turmoil. She started her career in the family business, managed by her five uncles, just after her graduation from the university 38 years ago. Even though one of the well-known business lines of the Group was textile, Ms. Güler Sabancı resolutely wanted to work in the tyre company, which was at an early stage at that period. She explains this by saying ‘I wanted to grow up with the business. Moreover, I liked the smell of tyres.’ The coup in 1980, however, ruined her plans. Variable exchange rates and import restrictions made the working conditions difficult and Lassa was on the brink of bankruptcy. The business of Güler Sabancı was particularly difficult because it involved raw material imports. Recovery took three years but today, Ms. Sabancı regards that experience as one of her most important experiences. She says ‘I learnt what crisis is at first hand and being a part of that team has been very useful for me throughout my life.’
Ms. Güler Sabancı kept struggling while she was acting as a partner in the holding company for the first time in 1987. These efforts changed the course of the family business. Ms. Sabancı explains this process as follows: “We were accustomed to having control. Therefore, my uncle Mr. Sakıp asked me who would be the boss. In return, I answered him that ‘the business itself would be the boss’.” Upon the appearance of Turkey on the world stage in the 1990s, Ms. Güler Sabancı played an important role in the globalisation of the company.”
“A LEADING BENEFACTRESS”
“Following the death of Mr. Sakıp Sabancı in 2004, she was elected as the Chairman with the majority vote of the family, despite the fact that there were many men in the family. This was regarded as a surprising development on the grounds that it was an unprecedented position for a woman in Turkey. However, this was not a “first” for her; she is a leading benefactress who pioneered the foundation of a university in 1994 and is a powerful ambassador for Turkey as well, while she successfully and sensibly manages industries with an awareness of the complicated political environment of her country.
She is bound up with her country more enthusiastically especially in these difficult times. She says ‘We have confidence in the future of our country and continue to invest.’ She performed the opening of the “Composite Technologies Centre of Excellence” last week, jointly with the Prime Minister, which has been founded under university-industry cooperation and will contribute to more innovative developments of the R&D ecosystem of the country.
Ms. Güler Sabancı also regards the union environment in the country following the failed coup attempt as an important opportunity and a glimmer of hope for the achievement of reforms. Now, it is time to reuse their competencies in crisis management.”
OTHER FIGURES IN THE LIST
Ana Botin, the CEO of Banco Santander Group, Arundhati Bhattacharya, the President of the State Bank of India, Isabelle Kocher, the CEO of Engie, Chua Sock Koong, the CEO of Singapore Telecommunications Group resident in Singapore, and Alison Cooper, the CEO of Imperial Brands, take the places near the top in the “International List of the Most Powerful Businesswomen” prepared by Fortune on the basis of the countries excluding America. The list is prepared in consideration of such criteria as company size, position in the global economy, company success, manager’s career and social and cultural impacts.