Serdar Bilgili

Serdar Bilgili — Biography

Serdar Bilgili was born on 21 July 1963 in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district into a family with roots in Kahramanmaraş. He studied at Robert College before earning a business degree at the University of Redlands in the United States, interned with the United Nations in Vienna for a year in 1983, and returned to Turkey in 1984 to build a career spanning textiles, construction and tourism; a keen photographer, he has also held photo exhibitions in both the United States and Turkey and speaks English and German.

Between 2000 and 2004 he served as the 31st president of Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club, and after stepping back from sports administration he continued expanding his business interests through major hotel investments — in 2026 alone he was reported to have set up a 500-million-euro hotel investment fund and to have flown a Beşiktaş flag over a newly acquired hotel. During the same period he publicly denied allegations of falsified invoices and tax evasion and filed a criminal complaint over the claims, while also drawing attention for supporting the restoration of the Prinkipo Greek Orphanage on Büyükada.