Shares of the Turkish football and multi-sports giant Fenerbahçe surged yesterday after the club elected a scion of one of Turkey's wealthiest industrial dynasties as its new chairman for the next three years over the weekend.
The 51-year-old well-known Turkish businessman Ali Koç, a member of Turkey's wealthiest family which runs the conglomerate Koç Holding, won 16,092 out of the 20,736 valid votes on Sunday, ending previous chairman Aziz Yıldırım's two-decade leadership.
The change at the top marks a turning point for the Istanbul club, which has been dominated by Yildirim since he became chairman in 1998.
On Monday, Fenerbahçe's shares rose to TL 44.36 ($9.62) with the opening of the markets and were later up 8.66 percent at 0747 GMT.
Fenerbahçe, Turkey's second most successful soccer club with 19 league titles, were runners-up in the Turkish Cup this year and will go into the next season's Champions League playoff rounds. The club won the Euro-league basketball tournament in 2017 but lost to Real Madrid in this year's final.
Having served as a Fenerbahçe board member, Koç has held the vice presidency of the executive board of Koç Holding, a prominent Turkish conglomerate, since February 2016.
He is set to serve as the 37th president of the club.
The third son of former Koç Group chairman Rahmi Koç, Ali Koç has promised to use his business contacts to reinvigorate the club.
His eldest brother Mustafa, the former Koç Group chairman, died in 2016. His other brother Ömer currently leads the group.
Forbes magazine this year estimated that family patriarch Rahmi Koç has a fortune of $1.76 billion. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday has sent a telegram of congratulation to Ali Koç, the presidency said in a statement.
