Having attended the Uludag Economy Summit as a spokesperson, Yıldız Holding Chair Ali Ülker highlighted that companies cannot progress with strategies that focus solely on profit today. Remarking that profitability is only a means to the ultimate goal of “social contribution,” Ali Ülker said that Yıldız Holding and its affiliates operate with this approach.  

Yıldız Holding Chair Ali Ülker attended Uludağ Economy Summit, organized with the motto “One World, Common Future” by the magazines Capital, Ekonomist, and StartUp, as a spokesperson. In his speech at the panel “A Future Model for the Turkish Business World on Its 100^th Anniversary: Purpose-Driven Leadership and Strategy” on Friday, April 28, Ali Ülker highlighted that companies cannot survive in the new world with old models, stating that new generations choose purpose-driven companies and a leadership that is open to disrupting existing models and building new ones. Remarking that Yıldız Holding adopts such an approach, Ali Ülker underlined that the ultimate goal of the Holding and its affiliates is not profitability but contributing to society.

“Companies should invest more in the youth.”  

Pointing to the fact that he started by focusing on the Holding’s values when he was appointed as the Chair at Yıldız Holding, Ali Ülker added: “The values that have brought Yıldız Holding to where it is today are also the fundamental values that will carry us into the future. Being a high-performance leading organization in touch with consumers is an inherited value that makes us who we are. At the same time, being a company that is open to new values and speaks the same language as the youth is also highly important. We see that young generations prefer working with companies that can ‘give what they earn back to society.’ Leadership is also partly about manifesting this vision and uniting the youth around it to carry them into the future. Driven by our vision of ‘Investing in People,’ I believe in the necessity of providing more opportunities to the youth. As I highlight on every occasion, I urge organizations to invest in the youth, their teams, and their future. They should mold bright new graduates within their organization in their particular ways.”

“We consider sustainability as the basis of our way of doing business.”

Summarizing Yıldız Holding’s strategy as “sustainability” in a single word, Ali Ülker stated they adopt a holistic approach to this topic and consider enabling social contribution their foremost purpose. Ali Ülker said: “We consider sustainability an essential part of our values and the basis of our way of doing business. In line with the ‘waste-free company’ model we inherited from our founder, Sabri Ülker, we center our operations in all areas, from finance, production, and consumption to supply chains, stores, and social responsibility, around sustainability. We participate in projects toward improving agriculture. We support women producers and suppliers. We enable social contribution through efforts toward equal opportunities, digital training programs, and internship and career opportunities for young talents in line with our vision of ‘Investing in People.’ We adopt an approach that creates value for all our stakeholders and operates with a focus on Türkiye while also aiming for global leadership.”