Board of Directors
Chairman
Mehmet Tütüncü
Resume:
Mehmet Tütüncü graduated from Gazi University Mechanical Engineering Department and completed his master's degree in Maltepe University Industrial and Organizational Psychology Department. With an IRI scholarship he participated at Production, Quality Control and Maintenance Practices for 6 months in Italy, and received various educations in the field of Strategic Planning at Harvard Business School, IMD/Switzerland, and Insead/Singapore.
Mehmet Tütüncü started his career in 1981 as an engineer at the Ministry of National Education, Department of Construction. From 1987-1996 he worked at Best Rothmans Entegre Sigara ve Tütün Sanayi A.Ş first as Production Manager, then Business Manager and finally as General Manager. He started his first job at Yıldız Holding in 1996 as Operations Coordinator at Ülker Gıda A.Ş. He assumed the positions of Ülker Biscuit and Chocolate factories General Manager, Ülker Group Vice President, Food and Beverage Group President, Food Group President and Ülker International Group President. He was appointed as the Regional CEO in charge of Türkiye, the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia to the Pladis organization established within Yıldız Holding in 2016. In 2017, he continued his duty as Deputy CEO by taking additional responsibility for South Asia and Latin America regions and Pladis Global Information Systems and Business Models Transformation. As of October 2018, he assumed the duties of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and Yıldız Holding CEO. Tütüncü is a member of the TÜGİS Board of Directors and is a member of many Turkish and foreign sectoral organizations. He is also on the Food Drink Europe Board of Directors and the Food Drink Europe Liaison Committee.
Deputy Chairman
Ali Ülker
Resume:
Born in 1969, Ali Ülker completed his university education in the Department of Economics and Business Administration at Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, after finishing at Istanbul High School for Boys. He has attended various training programs at IMD, INSEAD, Wharton and Harvard. He took part in the Internal Kaizen Study (1992) and the IESC Sales System Development and Internal Organization Project (1997) with De Boccard & Yorke Consulting Company.
Ali Ülker, who started his career in 1985 as an intern in the Quality Control Department of Ülker Gıda A.Ş., assumed between 1986 and 1998 the positions of Intern, Sales Manager, Sales Coordinator, Product Group Coordinator and Product Group Manager at chocolate production facilities and Atlas Gıda Pazarlama A.Ş. Ali Ülker, who became the General Manager of Atlas Gıda Pazarlama A.Ş in 1998 and was appointed Vice President of the Retail Group in 2000, assumed the position of General Manager at Merkez Gıda Pazarlama A.Ş. in 2001. He was appointed Food Group Vice President in 2002 and Ülker Group President in 2005. Ali Ülker, who has been serving as Yıldız Holding's Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2011, became the Chairman of Yıldız Holding's Board of Directors on January 29, 2020.
Ülker, who has a strong knowledge and experience in marketing and sales, has a special interest in innovation and supports teams working on this subject within the Group. Ali Ülker speaks English and German, is married and has 3 children.
Board Member
Vehbi Merzeci
Resume:
Vehbi Merzeci was born in 1975 in Istanbul. Merzeci is a graduate of Uludag University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration and speaks English. He served as the Committee Chairman of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, as Member of the Assembly, and as Deputy Chairman of the Board of STG (Aquaculture Promotion Group). He is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Istanbul Exporters' Association’s Seafood and Animal Products Exporters' Association, a Member of the Board of the Sector Board, and a Member of the Assembly of TIM (Turkish Exporters Assembly). Vehbi Merzeci, who is married, is a member of the Fenerbahçe Sports Club Congress.
Board Member
Şükrü Çin
Resume:
Şükrü Çin, who was born in 1960, after getting education at Marmara University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration, Accounting and Finance, and worked as an Accounting and Finance Manager in the textile, machinery, import and export sectors between 1984-1991.
He started his first duty at Yıldız Holding as an auditor in the Control and Audit department in 1991, has worked at Yıldız Holding Subsidiary Besler Gıda ve Kimya Sanayi ve Tic. A.Ş. as Financial and Administrative Affairs Manager, Financial Affairs Coordinator, Assistant General Manager (Concurrently Financial Affairs Coordinator in companies affiliated to Yıldız Holding Food Group Presidency), General Manager and CEO of Frozen Food, Canned and Oil Business Unit since 1994.
Board Member
Ahmet Murat Yalnızoğlu
Resume:
Born in 1957, Murat Yalnızoğlu completed his education at Istanbul High School for Boys, Boğaziçi University and University of Florida as an Industrial and Systems Engineer. He started his career in 1982 as an entrepreneur in the field of information systems and software development. In 1989, he started to work in the field of management consultancy focused on information technologies at Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting companies. Later, he managed consultancy projects in the fields of strategy and organizational development in Türkiye's leading companies as a senior manager, founder and partner at Coopers & Lybrand and R&D Consulting companies. Since 2006, he has focused on the creation of effective corporate structures, especially in large multi-business companies. He has carried out many studies in the field of increasing the efficiency of the Board of Directors activities, restructuring the institutions from the beginning and ensuring their significant development. In addition to management consultancy, he has assumed the responsibility of Board Membership in many companies. He contributes to the spread of the benefits of good management by sharing his experience in management with non-governmental and professional organizations and universities, at various seminars and conferences and on social media.
Board Member
Ceyda Aydede
Resume:
Ceyda Aydede has a degree in Industrial Engineering and started her professional career at Arthur Andersen. Aydede later worked in various positions at Migros. Combining the work experience gained in different sectors with a professional public relations understanding, Ceyda Aydede, who founded Global Promotion in 1989, has undertaken many important public relations projects for more than 25 years. These projects, which brought many national and international awards to Global Promotion, also brought prestigious awards to Aydede. In 2000, she received the Most Successful Businesswoman of the Public Relations Sector of Dünya Newspaper, and the Best Representing Professional of the Sector by Ankara Public Relations Association and ATO in 2001. Aydede, who teaches public relations to graduate students at Yeditepe University, also has published books in the field of public relations.