Business

Vehbi Koç

Persuaded his father to open a grocery beneath the family home at 16; built Turkey's first holding company.

Born: 1901 · Ankara, Ottoman Empire (now Turkey)
Roots: Turkish; Ankara merchant family
Family: Middle class; A modest Ankara household; the family's means came from small trade.
Education: Left school early for the shop
Started with: A family shop; At 16, persuaded his father to open a grocery beneath the family home in Samanpazarı, Ankara.
Affiliations & societies: None documented.; Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1917 · age 16
The Samanpazarı grocery
Foodstuffs, hardware, and building materials under the family house; registered in his name as "Koçzade Ahmet Vehbi" in 1926.
1928 · age 27
Ford dealership
Becomes Ford's Ankara agent in the young republic's new capital; Standard Oil representation follows.
1938 · age 37
Koç Ticaret A.Ş.₺300K
Incorporates to outlive the sole proprietorship.
1948 · age 47
Manufacturing with General Electric
A joint-venture lamp factory — an early import-substitution move.
1955 · age 54
Arçelik
Turkey's first domestic-appliance maker; the first Turkish refrigerators follow.
1963 · age 62
Koç Holding
Turkey's first holding company.
1966 · age 65
Anadol
The first Turkish mass-produced car, via Otosan with Ford.
1969 · age 67
Vehbi Koç Foundation
Turkey's first private charitable foundation.

Sources

Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.