One of the industrialists who pioneered the development of the Turkish automotive industry: Who is İnan Kıraç?
He is a Turkish businessman and industrialist born in Istanbul in 1937. For a long time, he held senior management positions at Koç Holding, Turkey's first, largest, and richest holding company. He also became related to them by marrying the daughter of the founder of the holding.
After graduating from Galatasaray High School, one of Turkey's top-tier schools, he studied at London City College of Business. He started his career by working as a translator for a while during the construction of the Kemer Dam.
In 1961, he started working at Ormak AŞ, a company operating within Koç Holding, through his elder brother. He was 24 years old at the time. He initially served as a sales clerk.
Suna Koç Kıraç (born Suna Koç; June 3, 1941 – September 15, 2020) was a Turkish businesswoman and a billionaire. She was married to İnan Kıraç, a high-ranking executive of the Koç Group. They have one child. Suna had served in various posts in the holding, most notably as vice president.
In 1966, he was appointed as the General Manager of the Highway, the manufacturer of Fiat Trucks and midibuses. In 1970, he became the General Manager of Tofaş Oto Ticaret, the marketing and distribution company of Fiat Automobiles produced in Turkey. He was first appointed as Koç Holding's Vice President responsible for Tofaş, and then as Koç Holding Automotive Group President.
İnan Kıraç, who served as the Chairman of the Executive Board (CEO) of Koç Holding until his retirement in 1998, witnessed every moment of the development of the Turkish Automotive Industry, worked on every detail as a professional manager, and put his signature to many giant factories.
In 1998, İnan Kıraç founded Kıraça Group of Companies together with Claude Nahum.
İnan Kıraç, with his wife Suna Kıraç, 2000; He founded the "Suna and İnan Mediterranean Civilizations Research Institute, Antalya Kaleiçi Museum".
In 2003, he founded the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, which operates in culture-art, education, and arts, and in 2005, the same foundation founded the Pera Museum.
He founded the Istanbul Research Institute with his wife Sunan Kıraç on March 1, 2007. The institute aims to support research on the Ottoman, Istanbul, Byzantine and Republican periods.
İnan Kıraç and Suna Kıraç (daughter of KOç Holding founder Vehbi Koç) got married in 1969. They adopted İpek Kıraç on February 1, 1985, when she was 4 months old, in the 15th year of their marriage.
July 2010
Karsan, owned by İnan Kıraç, participated in the "Taxi of the Future" tender opened in New York, USA, and held by the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC).
Leaving the major manufacturers behind in the tender, it managed to become one of the three finalists along with Ford and Nissan.