Kemal Şahin


Kemal Şahin is a Turkish - German entrepreneur and a textile tycoon. He is also an environmental activist against erosion.

Early life

Sahin was born to a poor family in the village of Taşlıpınar in the Beyşehir district of Konya Province, Turkey. His birth date is not known, but his family registered his birth on April 11, 1955.
After finishing primary school in his village, secondary school in Beyşehir and high school in Konya, Sahin went to Germany on a scholarship in 1973 to study metallurgical engineering for Etibank, a large state-owned mining company. He completed a German-language course, then attended Technical University of Aachen, from which he graduated in 1982 with a Diplom degree.

Entrepreneur

As a student, Sahin was interested in trade. After finishing university, he established his own textile-importing company, Santex Moden, in 1980 with a starting capital of 5,000 DM. Within three or four years, he became a German millionaire before his 30th birthday.
Today, he owns 27 production and trading companies, integrated facilities from cotton to cloth, 18 of which are united under Şahinler Holding in Turkey. One of the biggest exporters in Turkey, the group also has its own steam and electric power station, a catering company, a building contractor and a holiday resort in Antalya Province, Turkey. The worldwide Şahinler corporation, with a turnover of one billion Euros, consists of two companies in Germany and one each in the Netherlands, Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, United Kingdom and the U.S., as well in Turkey. The group has about 10,000 employees. Santex Moden ranks 25th in Germany and is among the 100 largest companies in Europe.

Awards

Besides his entrepreneurship, Sahin has been: