Commentary / Esen Çağlar

"A couple of months ago I asked why none of the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world lived in Turkey, but I have lately realized that Turkey does have a class of young dollar-billionaire entrepreneurs. So I would like to say a couple of things about Ali Ağaoğlu’s entrepreneurship. The contractor and self proclaimed “architect of life" recently has become a social phenomenon through his advertisement campaigns. I think his story gives us a better understanding of Turkey.

I have nothing to say about Ali Ağaoğlu’s capacity as a contractor. He really does build high-quality houses. So far, his company has finished 30,000 housing units and 10,000 more are currently under construction. This means that almost 150,000 people are happily living in the houses Ağaoğlu has built, making him the urban landlord of the twenty-first century..."

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