Güler Sabancı, the head of Sabancı Holding, placed ninth on the Financial Times list of the top 25 businesswomen in Europe, the conglomerate announced in October 2006.
The Financial Times noted that Sabancı was the first woman to lead a major corporation in Türkiye. She started her career at the family's tire factory in Izmit nearly three decades ago and later assumed the chairmanship of Sabancı Holding, Türkiye's second-largest business group, after her uncle Sakip passed away in 2004. He had selected her as his successor over his brothers and other male relatives.
Sabancı holds a business administration degree and previously ran the group's tire and tire reinforcement materials division for five years. The conglomerate's holdings span banking, insurance, chemicals, and tobacco.
The company planned to invest $3 billion in power generation and electricity distribution infrastructure, with the goal of raising its share of Türkiye's electricity output from 2 to 10 percent within five years. Sabancı also said she was watching Türkiye's EU accession process closely, estimating membership could come within roughly 10 years.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.