Board of Directors

Hanzade Vasfiye Doğan Boyner is our founder and has served as the chair of our board of directors since she founded Hepsiburada in 2000. Ms. Doğan is an experienced entrepreneur and leader of e-commerce and technology businesses as well as blue-chip companies. In 2002, Ms. Doğan founded Nesine, one of Türkiye’s leading sports betting platforms, and currently holds the position of chairwoman. From 2003 to 2007, Ms. Doğan was the chairwoman of Doğan Publishing, Türkiye’s largest publishing company in terms of circulation at the time. From 2006 to 2010, Ms. Doğan was first a board member and then the chairwoman of Petrol Ofisi, Türkiye’s main fuel products distribution company and second largest corporation by revenue throughout that period.

Ms. Doğan is the founding board member and served as the Vice-Chairwoman of Global Relations Forum between 2009 and 2020. She has been a member of the Brookings Institute Board of Trustees since 2014. Ms. Doğan is a regular participant at the World Economic Forum and a Committee Member of the Digital Platforms and Ecosystems Initiative. Between 2012 and 2022, Ms. Doğan served as the chairwoman of the Aydın Doğan Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a social mobility mission and currently serves as a board member.

Ms. Doğan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University where she continues to serve as a member of the Business School Board of Overseers.

Ahmet Toksoy was appointed as a member of our board of directors in January 2024.

Mr. Toksoy worked for the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Türkiye from 1984 to 1989. Later, Mr. Toksoy became a member of the Inspection Board of Hürriyet Holding, served at Hürriyet Newspaper as the Assistant Financial Affairs Manager from 1990 to 1991 and as Financial Affairs Manager from 1991 to 1995. Mr. Toksoy practiced as a Certified Public Accountant at Aktif Denetim Certified Public Accountant Company from 1995 to 1998. Mr. Toksoy held the position of Head of Financial Affairs of Hürriyet Newspaper from 1998 to the early 2010s and, over the years, took on various positions at Doğan Group, including Head of Audit and Risk Management of Doğan Holding, Chairman of the board of directors of Hürriyet Newspaper and a member of the board of directors of various affiliate companies of Doğan Group. Mr. Toksoy continues to serve as a member of the board of directors of Doğan Holding.

Mr. Toksoy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from İstanbul University.

Tayfun Bayazıt has been a member of our board of directors since July 2021 as an independent board member.

Mr. Bayazıt started his banking career at Citibank in 1983. He subsequently worked in executive positions within Çukurova Group for 13 consecutive years (Yapı Kredi as Senior EVP and Executive Committee Member, Interbank as CEO, Banque de Commerce et de Placements S.A. Switzerland as President and CEO). In 1999, he was appointed as Vice Chairman of Doğan Holding and an Executive Director of Dışbank. In 2001, he assumed the CEO position at Dışbank. In 2003, he was also appointed Chairman and was requested to remain as CEO of Fortis Türkiye and the region in July 2005 after its acquisition. Subsequently, he was elected as Chairman of Fortis in 2006.

Mr. Bayazıt came back to Yapı Kredi in 2007 (at which time Yapı Kredi was owned by a joint venture of the UniCredit and the Koç Group) as CEO and two years later he was elected as Chairman. He served as chairman of all Yapı Kredi subsidiaries including Yapı Kredi Sigorta (property and casualty insurance) and Yapı Kredi Emeklilik (private pension and life) for 4 years. Yapı Kredi was the fourth largest high street bank in Türkiye with subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Bahrain and Russia, actively involved in mortgage lending among other individual banking activities with a strong digital focus.

Mr. Bayazıt left this post in August 2011 to set up his own firm “Bayazit Consulting Services.” He was then elected as the Country Chairman for MarshMcLennan Group, Türkiye in September 2012 and currently serves as the Chairman for Polisan Holding, and is a member of the board of directors of Zorlu Holding and Boyner Holding. He is an independent board member at Adel Kalemcilik.

He is a member of TUSIAD (Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association) High Advisory Board and takes an active role in other non-governmental organizations such as the World Resources Institute, Corporate Governance Association of Türkiye. He is a member of the board of trustees of Bosphorus University and Turkish Education Volunteers Foundation.

Mr. Bayazıt holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering (1980) and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, New York (Finance and International Business - 1983).

Erman Kalkandelen has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2020.

Mr. Kalkandelen currently serves as the CEO and Chairman of Franklin Templeton Turkey. Mr. Kalkandelen previously co-managed the Templeton Emerging Market Small Cap strategy.He is currently heading the private equity practice of Franklin Templeton in Türkiye and CEE and focusing mainly on the technology industry. He is a member of the board of directors of Netlog Lojistik, Gözde Girişim and Gozde Tech Ventures, Fibabanka, Şok Marketler, Bleckmann, Penta Teknoloji and Bizim Toptan.

Mr. Kalkandelen holds a Master of Business Administration, with honors, from Sabanci University. During his MBA, he also studied strategic management at the Warrington School of Business Management, Florida University and graduated with honors from the Labor Economics Department of the Political Sciences Faculty, Ankara University.

Tolga Babalı has been a member of our board of directors since May 2021.

As of 2023, Mr. Babalı also serves as a senior officer under an employment agreement with the Company. Since 2008, he has held several management roles in Doğan Holding and related companies in the Doğan Group and, between August 2017 and March 2023, Mr. Babalı served as a member of the executive committee of Doğan Holding, with responsibility for financial and operational management. He continues to serve as a board member in a number of Doğan Group companies. Prior to joining the Doğan Group, Mr. Babalı worked for the Tax Inspection Board and Revenue Administration at the Ministry of Finance of Türkiye from 1998 to 2008.

Mr. Babalı holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Gazi University, Ankara, and is certified as a Sworn-in Certified Public Accountant and an Independent Auditor.  

Ahmet Fadıl Ashaboğlu joined our board of directors in May 2022 as an independent board member.

He began his career as a Research Assistant at MIT in 1994, followed by various positions in capital markets within UBS Warburg, New York (1996-1999). After serving as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, New York (1999-2003), Ahmet Fadıl Ashaboğlu moved back to Türkiye and joined Koç Holding as Finance Group Coordinator in 2003. He was appointed as Group Chief Financial Officer at Koç Holding in 2006 and served in that position until April 2022. Ahmet Fadıl Ashaboğlu is currently a board member of various public and private companies including Yapı Kredi Bank, Koç Financial Services, Koç Finansman and Sirena Marine.  

Ahmet Fadıl Ashaboğlu holds a BSc degree from Tufts University and a Master of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both in Mechanical Engineering.

Vuslat Doğan Sabancı has been a member of our board of directors since 2020.

Ms. Sabancı has over 20 years of experience in publishing and media. From 2004 to 2008, she served as the CEO of Hürriyet Publishing, Türkiye’s foremost newspaper group, and as publisher from 2008 to 2018, during which time Hürriyet became a widely read and influential newspaper and Türkiye’s largest digital content company. Prior to joining Hürriyet, Ms. Sabancı worked at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Ms. Sabancı founded Hürriyet Emlak, one of Türkiye’s leading real estate websites in 2016, and has been chairwoman since 2019. Ms. Sabancı sits on the board of a number of companies, including Doğan Group. Ms. Sabancı is a lifetime honorary board member of the International Press Institute (IPI) and serves on the Advisory Board of Columbia University’s Global Centers, as well as on the Columbia Global Leadership Council.

In 2006, Ms. Sabancı received UN Grand Award for outstanding achievement for her social justice campaigns. She is Vice President of the not-for-profit Aydın Doğan Foundation and a founding board member of Turkish Businesswomen Association and the not-for-profit organization Endeavor Türkiye.

Ms. Sabancı holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bilkent University and completed her graduate studies in International Media and Communications at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Mehmet Erol Çamur was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors in October 2023.

He previously served as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors between 2015 and 2022. Mr. Çamur worked for the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Türkiye from 1986 to 1995 and held management positions in the private sector for five years before joining the Doğan Group in 2000. As part of the Doğan Group, Mr. Çamur has served within several management roles and been responsible for, among other things, various financial matters. Currently, he is serving as Financial Affairs Coordinator for certain companies within the Doğan Group.

Mr. Çamur holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Ankara University. 

Dr. Stefan Gross-Selbeck joined our board of directors in January 2023 as an independent board member.

He has over twenty years of experience in senior leadership roles including as a CEO and held a number of board memberships. Dr. Gross-Selbeck was a Senior Partner and Managing Director of the Boston Consulting Group until March 2024. Since January 2023 he has been serving as Global Topic Leader Climate Technologies at BCG. He previously served as the Global Managing Partner of BCG Digital Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Boston Consulting Group and as Managing Partner for their European operations. Prior to joining BCG Digital Ventures in 2014, Dr. Gross-Selbeck served as CEO of New Work SE (formerly known as XING AG), a leading social network for professionals in Europe, between 2009-2013. He also had different management roles at eBay, ProSiebenSat1 and Boston Consulting Group GmbH. Dr. Gross-Selbeck is a member of the advisory boards of the German Startup Association and several ventures built by BCG Digital Ventures.

Dr. Gross-Selbeck holds an MBA from INSEAD and has a PhD in law from University of Konstanz, Germany. He studied law and economics at the Universities of Freiburg, Lausanne, Montpellier and Cologne.