Hayri Çulhacı

Hayri Çulhacı

Chair

Hayri Çulhacı earned his undergraduate degree from the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University in 1978 and received his MBA from Northeastern University in the United States in 1986.

He began his career at the Turkish Ministry of Finance in 1979, where he spent over a decade in progressively senior roles. In 1990, he joined Akbank as Executive Vice President, marking the start of a three-decade trajectory that saw him take on a range of critical leadership responsibilities. He was appointed to the Board of Directors as an Executive Member in 2009 and named Vice Chairman the following year. Over the course of this period, he also chaired the Audit Committee, Corporate Governance Committee, and High-Level Risk Committee. He retired from Akbank in 2020.

In parallel to his executive roles, Mr. Çulhacı served on the Boards of Aksigorta A.Ş. and Avivasa Emeklilik ve Hayat A.Ş., and held chairmanships at both Ak Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş. and Ak Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş.

He is currently Vice Chair and a Member of the Board of Trustees at the Sabancı Foundation.

On March 27, 2025, Mr. Çulhacı stepped into the role of Chair of the Board at Sabancı Holding, following the tenure of Güler Sabancı. With his appointment, he has become the first career executive to assume the position.