When Turkish online retailer Hepsiburada (HEPS) listed on Nasdaq on July1, it propelled its chairwoman and founder, Hanzade Dogan Boyner, to billionaire status, Forbes reported on July 6.

She has been there before, but as part of her family’s fortune, not in her own right. In 2008, she ranked number 1,062 on Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $1bn. Her wealth was due to her stake in her family's holdings, but that soon dropped below the nine-zero threshold, pushing her off the list the following year.

Boyner’s father, Aydin Dogan, is also a billionaire, worth an estimated $1.1bn. An ex-media mogul, he built his fortune from the media industry and he was pushed by the government to sell his media holding in 2018.

Boyner’s 21.5% stake in Hepsiburada was worth just under $1bn at market close on July 6 as the company’s market value stood at $4.58bn. She holds 71% of the company’s voting power.

Forbes estimates Boyner’s wealth at $1.5bn, including $200mn real estate investments (stakes in The Alexanderplatz shopping mall in Berlin, The Diplomat Hotel in London, and Trump Towers and Hilton Hotel in Istanbul), family holdings and sports betting company Nesine.

Her husband Osman Boyner’s family is also among Turkey’s wealthiest families.

In 2000, Boyner, who was working at Dogan Holding’s internet group Dogan Online, purchased a small online computer seller called Infoshop and renamed it Hepsiburada, which in Turkish means “everything is here.”

She has served as the company’s chair ever since and she quit her father Aydin Dogan’s Dogan Holding in 2008.

Hepsiburada began by selling electronics, but morphed into Turkey’s equivalent to Amazon, selling everything from cosmetics and home decor to garden appliances and pet toys.

The company generated $733mn in revenues from 9mn active customers and 33mn members in 2020. It posted a net loss of $55mn.