Prominent members of Turkey’s Sabancı family injured in boat accident

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Two prominent members of Turkey’s Sabancı business empire have been injured after a serious boating incident on a holiday in Greece. 

Ali Sabancı and Vuslat Doğan Sabancı were being treated after a “sea accident” on Thursday, according to a statement by Esas Group, a Turkish investment company that manages the wealth of some members of the Sabancı family, one of Turkey’s leading business dynasties. 

Turkish media, which widely covered the incident, reported that the married couple had been taken to hospital in Turkey after their speedboat crashed into rocks near the Greek island of Leros. Ali Sabancı, who was more seriously injured, reportedly had to have his spleen removed and required intubation.

Esas did not immediately respond to a request for comment for further information. 

Ali Sabancı is chair of Esas, which owns a controlling stake in low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines, as well as investments in several major Turkish start-ups including delivery service Getir and marketing platform Insider. The group also has a vast portfolio of real estate assets stretching across Turkey. 

Doğan Sabancı is a director at another well-known Turkish conglomerate, Doğan Holding, which was founded by her father Aydın Doğan. She also for a time ran Hürriyet, a high-profile secular newspaper.

Ali Sabancı is best known for chairing Pegasus from 2005 to March 2023. The airline took advantage of a government decision in 2003 to liberalise domestic air travel and halt a near-monopoly held by flag carrier Turkish Airlines. Sabancı is still a director at Pegasus, while Esas owns a 57 per cent stake in the group, which flew 27mn passengers last year, according to regulatory filings.

Sabancı is a third-generation member of the Sabancı empire, which founded the sprawling Turkish conglomerate Sabancı Holding in the mid-1920s. He exited an executive management role in the group in 2004, joining Esas, which his father Şevket Sabancı founded to manage his family’s wealth. 

One of Turkey’s biggest conglomerates, Sabancı Holding began as a cotton and textile trading business but now stretches across many sectors of Turkey’s $900bn economy.


It owns a large stake in Akbank, one of the country’s largest lenders, and power utility Enerjisa Enerji among other important Turkish assets. Last year, the group posted combined revenue of TL404bn, or about $22bn at exchange rates at the end of 2022.