H amdi Ulukaya is a Turkish-American self-made billionaire who is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Chobani, the company that revolutionized the yogurt industry in the United States. Born into a Kurdish dairy-farming family in Turkey, he immigrated to the U.S. to study English. In 2005, with a small business loan, he bought a defunct Kraft Foods yogurt plant in upstate New York and started his own business.

He decided to produce a thick, strained, Greek-style yogurt, a product that was still a niche item in the U.S. market at the time. His focus on using natural ingredients and a distinctive branding and packaging strategy made Chobani a massive and almost overnight success. The brand grew at a phenomenal rate, disrupting the established yogurt giants and becoming the number one selling Greek yogurt brand in America. He remains the majority owner of the privately held company and is a prominent philanthropist and advocate for refugees.