Yogurt Juggernaut Chobani's CEO Makes Huge Donation for Turkey Earthquake Victims

Hamdi Ulukay, CEO of Chobani, is raising money for the survivors of the earthquake impacting Turkey and surrounding areas.

Hamdi Ulukaya, the Turkish born CEO of Chobani, spearheaded an effort to raise money for the survivors of the devastating earthquake by donating $1 million and matching another $1 million.

The founder of the yogurt company made a $1 million donation to the Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF) and committed to matching up to another $1 million in donations to help people who lost their homes and livelihoods in the disaster.

“My brothers and sisters in Turkey and the surrounding region desperately need our help," he tweeted on Feb. 6.

"This is my homeland, and one of the biggest catastrophes in the country’s history – my heart is breaking," he told TheStreet.

Emergency aid has been sent globally to help out in rescue efforts and for the survivors of the earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and killed thousands of people. Finding survivors has been a gargantuan task.

Rescuers searched throughout the night in freezing temperatures again for survivors under the massive amounts of rubble from buildings that collapsed as the death toll rose to over 7,700 people.

"The cold winter days are here and people need access to food, water, shelter and medicine," Ulukaya said. "There is not time to waste."

Ulukaya's initial goal was to raise $3 million for the Turkish Philanthropy Funds' earthquake relief and recovery efforts, but the goal was surpassed within 24 hours. His new goal is raise $5 million.

"It is our duty and obligation to immediately offer help – and I’m overwhelmed by the support I’ve gotten from the business community which has joined me in these efforts," he said.

The fund said it would provide details on which organizations are the recipients of the money raised.

"We commit to transparent reporting and will give updates as we make grants from this fund," the organization tweeted.

Ulukaya has long been a stalwart supporter of giving back to the community. Chobani was founded in 2005 and sold its first cups of yogurt in 2007.

He signed the Giving Pledge to commit to donating part of his massive wealth along with founders Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and Melinda and Bill Gates, founder and former CEO of Microsoft.

The billionaire founder's charitable efforts are well-known and Chobani has donated 55 million products over the years to anti-hunger organizations across the U.S. Its employees have spent 24,000 hours volunteering for various organizations. The company has also given out 175 grants for several causes such as college scholarships and for small business owners to help fund their businesses in upstate New York and the Magic Valley region in Idaho.

In 2020 and 2021, Chobani organized its first national Child Hunger Summit and recommended launching public-private partnerships to end child hunger.

The company had sought to go public in 2022, but withdrew due to the volatility in the stock market. A spokeswoman from Chobani said plans for an IPO are not off the table. 

Chobani said its revenue increased by 5.2% to $1.4 billion from 2019 to 2020 in its IPO filing. But its net loss reached $58.7 million due to investments in the company, which was more than three times the previous amount. 

The proceeds of the IPO would have been used partly to pay down some its debt level.

In 2019, the company branched out and began selling oatmilk, dairy and plant-based coffee creamers, cold brew coffee and plant-based probiotic drinks.

Three tech behemoths, Alphabet  (GOOGL) - Get Free Report, Apple  (AAPL) - Get Free Report and Amazon   (AMZN) - Get Free Report, said they have sent resources to help out tens of thousands of people in Turkey and Syria impacted by the earthquake. 

Amazon trucks carrying shipments of supplies began on Tuesday, Amazon spokesman Patrick Malone told TheStreet.

"The first truck of supplies has departed our facility in Istanbul ahead of schedule and is on its way to Hatay in the affected region," he said. "First responders are still in the rescue phase of operations, so we will not have a full needs assessment for relief items for a while."

Amazon said that due to the frigid temperatures in the country, they "expect blankets, tents, tarps, and heaters to be at the top of the list of needed items," Malone said. "We’ll continue to meet needs as we receive requests for aid, so there is no set number of trucks, deliveries, or shipments."