Hamdi Ulukaya
Turkish (Kurdish)
Founder + CEO, Chobani
Instagram: @chobani
Turkish-born Hamdi Ulukaya is an immigrant and self-made billionaire that built America’s most popular Greek yogurt brand. When he came to the U.S. in 1994 to study English at Adelphi University, he transferred to the University at Albany, State University of New York by 1997 and enrolled in a few business courses. Although he never completed his degree, he would go on to open a small wholesale feta cheese factory of his own – importing his family’s feta cheese directly from Turkey.
In 2005, Hamdi came across an ad about a recently closed, yet fully equipped Kraft foods plant in South Edmeston, New York. This would tie into his reality of being unable to find delicious and nutritious Greek yogurts like he was familiar with in Turkey. So for a guy who had no prior experience in the yogurt business, Hamdi took a major risk, obtained a loan from the Small Business Administration, and bought the plant to make a home for Chobani. For the next two years, he carefully built his team – a yogurt master from Turkey and four former Kraft employees – and crafted a thick, strained yogurt (known as “Greek” in the U.S.). But prior to hitting store shelves, Hamdi could not afford advertising, so decided to design a bright, colorful bowl-style packaging to stand out from competition. The idea worked and allowed Chobani to hit stores in 2007 with open arms, from both retailers and customers. As of today, Chobani is the world’s leading yogurt brand, operates the world’s largest yogurt factory (located in Twin Falls, Idaho), and employs people from all walks of life, including resettled refugees.
Interesting facts: in April 2016, Hamdi surprised his full-time employees with company shares, which can be converted into stock or cash in the event of an initial public offering (IPO) or sale of the company. He has also signed on to Bill Gates' and Warren Buffet's The Giving Pledge – committing to donate majority of his wealth to charity.