(1944 - Denizli) Ahmet Zorlu began his professional career in a family-owned textile business in Babadağ, Denizli. He opened his first textile store in Trabzon. In 1970, Mr. Zorlu moved the company’s headquarters to Istanbul and laid the foundations of Zorlu Holding together with his brother, Zeki Zorlu. Ahmet Zorlu set up his first company, Korteks in 1976 and gathered all of the companies under the roof of Zorlu Holding in 1990. Acquiring Vestel in 1994, Ahmet Zorlu opened the door to new lines of business for Zorlu Holding. Mr. Zorlu’s entrepreneurialism, which began with the textile industry, went on to manifest itself in more companies operating in a wide range of industries such as consumer electronics, household appliances, energy, property development, metallurgy and defense. Ahmet Zorlu serves as the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the Board in numerous Zorlu Group companies operating in different industries including Vestel Beyaz Eşya and Vestel Elektronik.
With a keen interest in non-governmental organizations, Ahmet Zorlu sits on the Board of DEIK (Foreign Economic Relations Board), TUSIAD (Turkish Industry and Business Association), DENSIR (Education and Culture Foundation of People of Denizli), BASIAD (Babadağ Industry and Business Association) and TETSIAD (Turkish Home Textile Industrialists’ Association).