The Immigrant Who Borrowed Money to Buy a Broken Factory and Built a $20B Empire
Hey there,
So Chobani just raised £487 million at a £15 billion valuation. And honestly? That’s the least interesting part of the story.
Because buried in Chobani’s journey from 2005 to today is a masterclass in how to build a billion-pound business without selling your soul to venture capitalists and then scale it to £3 billion in revenue.
Let me tell you about Hamdi Ulukaya, a Kurdish immigrant who bought a defunct yogurt factory with a government loan and turn it into a $20B Empire.
A great way to build a business the unsexy, profitable way.
The Beginning: A Broken Factory and a Government Loan
Hamdi Ulukaya is an immigrant from Turkey living in upstate New York. He’s got experience in the family dairy business back home, but he’s hardly a mogul.
Kraft is shutting down an old yogurt plant in New Berlin, New York. The kind of move big food companies make when they’re “optimising operations”.
Hamdi sees opportunity, he buys the plant with a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan. SBA loan is a government-backed debt for small businesses.
No pitch deck. No cap table. No board meetings. Just debt and a vision. By 2007, Chobani launches Greek yogurt into American supermarkets. The product is thicker, higher in protein, and actually tastes good. At the time, Greek yogurt had less than 1% market share in the US.
By 2012, Chobani hits £750 million in revenue. Seven years from defunct factory to nearly a billion in sales. Without a single penny of venture capital. Let that sink in.
The 2014 Move That Changed Everything
Now here’s where the story gets fascinating from a capitalisation perspective.
By 2014, Chobani is doing massive revenue but needs capital to scale infrastructure. They’ve got demand they can’t meet. Manufacturing constraints. Distribution gaps.
Most founders at this point would either:
Raise equity and dilute themselves to 20-30% ownership
Sell to a strategic buyer (Danone, Nestlé, etc.)
Hamdi did neither.
Instead, he raised £560 million in debt from TPG Capital with significant warrant coverage (rumoured to be around 20% of the company).
Why this matters: Debt means you keep control. You pay interest instead of giving away ownership. The warrants gave TPG upside if Chobani succeeded, but Hamdi maintained majority control and decision-making power.
This is the move that separates operators from opportunists. Most founders are terrified of debt because it requires actually making money to service it. Hamdi knew Chobani was profitable and could handle the debt load. By taking debt instead of equity, Hamdi kept his company.
The 2016 Move That Nobody Talks About
Then in 2016, Hamdi gave 10% of the company to his employees. Not options. Not RSUs that vest over four years with cliffs and acceleration clauses. Actual equity stakes.
At the time, Chobani was valued around £2.2 billion. So he just gave away £220 million worth of ownership to the people working on the factory floor, driving the lorries, managing the supply chain.
Why would he do this?
Because Hamdi understood something most founders forget: your employees built this with you, and they deserve to share in the upside.
But also and this is the pragmatic bit it created unprecedented alignment. When your factory workers are literally owners of the company, they care about efficiency, quality and growth in ways W-2 employees never will.
The Strategic Reset: Buying Out TPG
By 2018, Chobani had scaled enough that TPG’s debt and warrant coverage was becoming constraining. Time to recapitalise.
But instead of going public or selling, Hamdi brought in HOOPP (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) to buy out TPG’s position.
Why this matters: Pension funds are long-term capital. They’re not looking for 10x exits in 5 years. They want steady, profitable, sustainable growth over decades.
This move essentially said: “We’re not playing the VC game. We’re building a company that lasts.”
The IPO That Never Was
2021: Chobani files for IPO with a target valuation around £7.5 billion.
Then 2022 happens. Markets cool. Tech valuations crater. The public market appetite for consumer IPOs evaporates.
Most companies would panic. Chobani? They just withdrew the filing and kept building.
Why they could do this: Because they were profitable. Because they weren’t burning VC cash with a 24-month runway. Because Hamdi owned the company and didn’t have a board screaming about liquidity events.
The 2023-24 Expansion: La Colombe and Daily Harvest
Whilst everyone else in consumer was panicking about high interest rates and dying DTC models, Chobani went shopping.
2023: Acquired La Colombe (premium coffee) for approximately £675 million 2024: Acquired Daily Harvest (frozen smoothies, bowls)
These were strategic expansions into adjacent categories using Chobani’s distribution infrastructure.
The strategy: Own multiple brands in premium better-for-you categories, leverage shared supply chain and retail relationships, create portfolio leverage.
La Colombe alone reportedly does £150+ million in revenue. Daily Harvest adds another £150+ million. Plus Chobani’s core yogurt business.
By 2024, Chobani’s doing around £2.8-3 billion in revenue.
The 2025 Raise: Doubling Down on America
And now, October 2025: Chobani raises £487 million at a £15 billion valuation.
The capital is going toward:
New £900 million processing plant in New York (bringing manufacturing back to the original home)
£375 million expansion in Idaho (doubling western production capacity)
The thesis: American demand for premium dairy and better-for-you foods is growing faster than Chobani can manufacture. Fix the constraint, capture the growth.
Projected 2025 revenue: £2.85 billion (+28% YoY)
The Capitalisation Playbook That Actually Works
Let’s break down what Hamdi did that nobody else does:
Phase 1 (2005-2014): Bootstrap with Debt
SBA loan to buy the factory (government-backed, low-interest)
Reinvest all profits into growth
No equity dilution
Hit £750M revenue before raising outside capital
Phase 2 (2014-2018): Strategic Debt with Warrants
£560M from TPG as debt + warrants (~20% company)
Hamdi keeps majority control and decision-making
Use capital for infrastructure, not covering losses
Debt serviced by growing, profitable business
Phase 3 (2016): Employee Ownership
Give 10% to employees (worth £220M at the time)
Create unprecedented alignment and moat
Attract and retain talent without paying Silicon Valley salaries
Phase 4 (2018-2022): Long-Term Capital Partner
Pension fund buys out TPG
Patient capital with 20+ year horizon
IPO filed but withdrawn when market conditions poor
No forced exits, no desperate liquidity events
Phase 5 (2023-2025): Profitable M&A + Infrastructure Investment
Acquire complementary brands (La Colombe, Daily Harvest)
Raise £487M at £15B valuation for manufacturing expansion
Projected £2.85B revenue in 2025
The result: Hamdi still owns the majority of a £15 billion company doing £2.85 billion in revenue, with employees owning 10%, and patient capital partners who think in decades.
Why This Model Works (And Why Nobody Copies It)
The Chobani playbook requires three things most founders don’t have:
1. Actual Product-Market Fit That Generates Profit
Chobani never had to “figure out monetisation.” From day one, they sold yogurt for more than it cost to make. Revolutionary concept, I know.
Most consumer brands spend years burning cash trying to acquire customers, hoping to eventually reach profitability at scale. Chobani was profitable from early on because they made something people actually wanted at a price that worked.
2. Patience to Build Infrastructure
Hamdi didn’t raise money to buy Instagram ads. He raised money to build factories. Unsexy, capital-intensive, moat-creating factories.
Most DTC brands optimise for growth at any cost. Hamdi optimised for sustainable competitive advantage. Manufacturing capacity is a real moat. A good Shopify theme is not.
3. Willingness to Stay Private
The pressure to go public from investors, employees, the press—is intense. Hamdi filed for IPO, looked at the market conditions, and said “nah, we’re good.”
That requires not needing liquidity desperately. Which requires profitability. Which requires building an actual business.
The Numbers That Tell the Real Story
Let’s look at what Chobani’s financial profile likely looks like:
Revenue (2025 projected): £2.85 billion
Core Chobani yogurt/dairy: ~£2.1B
La Colombe coffee: ~£150M+
Daily Harvest: ~£150M+
Other products: ~£450M
Gross Margins: ~35-40% (typical for premium dairy/food)
Higher than commodity food (20-25%)
Lower than software (70-80%)
But sustainable and defensible
EBITDA Margins: ~15-20% (estimated)
£425-570M in annual EBITDA
Supports debt service comfortably
Funds internal growth and M&A
Debt Load: Likely £750M-1.5B
Mix of term loans, revolver, new £487M raise
Manageable at 2-3x EBITDA
Much lower leverage than typical PE deals (5-7x)
Enterprise Value: £15 billion
~5-6x revenue multiple
~26-35x EBITDA multiple
Premium to commodity food, discount to high-growth tech
Reflects profitable growth + brand strength
Hamdi’s stake: 60-70% (estimated)
Worth £9-10.5 billion on paper
Full control and voting rights
Built over 20 years, not 5
Compare this to VC-backed exits:
Dollar Shave Club: Sold to Unilever for £750M (founders owned ~8%)
Glossier: Raised £266M, valued at £1.5B (founder owns ~25%)
Warby Parker: IPO at £4.5B (founders own ~15% combined)
The Employee Ownership Genius
Let’s talk about that 10% employee grant again, because it’s brilliant on multiple levels.
In 2016, 10% of Chobani was worth £220 million (~£2.2B valuation)
In 2025, 10% of Chobani is worth £1.5 billion (~£15B valuation)
Employees have seen their stakes appreciate 7x in 9 years.
Factory workers. Lorry drivers. Supply chain managers. People who would normally just get hourly wages saw their ownership stakes turn into life-changing wealth.
But here’s the pragmatic genius:
1. Retention When your employees are millionaires on paper, they don’t leave for a £2/hour raise somewhere else.
2. Alignment Employee-owners care about waste, efficiency, quality, and growth in ways hourly workers never will. They’ll catch problems before they become disasters.
3. Recruiting “We’ll give you equity” hits different when it’s real equity in a £15B company, not options in a Series A startup that will probably fail.
4. Culture Employee ownership creates genuine meritocracy. If you contribute to growth, you literally get richer. No politics required.
5. Moat Try competing with Chobani when their factory workers are motivated like founders. Good luck.
The cost: £220M in dilution in 2016. The return: A more valuable, more defensible, more sustainable business worth £15B today.
Does Chobani Stay a Winner for 20 More Years?
Now the big question: Is this sustainable, or did Hamdi just get lucky with Greek yogurt timing?
Bull Case (Why They Win):
1. Real Moat: Manufacturing Infrastructure
That £900M New York plant and £375M Idaho expansion aren’t just capacity—they’re competitive advantages. Most DTC brands can’t afford this. Even big food companies struggle to justify greenfield investments.
Chobani will be able to manufacture at scale and cost that competitors can’t match.
2. Portfolio Diversification
They’re no longer just yogurt. La Colombe gives them coffee. Daily Harvest gives them frozen smoothies. The Chobani brand extends across better-for-you categories.
If Greek yogurt growth slows, they’ve got other engines.
3. Distribution Leverage
Every new brand benefits from Chobani’s existing retail relationships. When you’re in every Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and independent grocer, launching new products is easier and cheaper.
4. Employee Ownership Moat
That 10% employee ownership creates a culture and operational excellence that’s nearly impossible to replicate. It’s not just an HR strategy—it’s a competitive advantage.
5. Private Company Flexibility
Staying private means Hamdi can make 10-year decisions, not quarterly decisions. He can invest in infrastructure, acquire strategically, and build without Wall Street pressure.
6. Demographic Trends
Health-conscious eating isn’t slowing down. Premium, better-for-you foods are growing faster than conventional. Chobani is positioned exactly right.
Bear Case (Why They Might Struggle):
1. Maturing Category
Greek yogurt is no longer novel. Market share growth has slowed. Competition is fierce from both premium (Fage, Siggi’s) and value (store brands).
2. Retailer Pressure
As big retailers launch their own premium private label, they squeeze branded manufacturers on price and shelf space. Chobani isn’t immune.
3. Debt Burden
With £487M just raised plus existing debt, Chobani’s likely carrying £750M-1.5B in total debt. If growth slows or margins compress, servicing that becomes harder.
4. Acquisition Integration Risk
La Colombe and Daily Harvest are different businesses with different economics than yogurt. Integration is hard. Synergies might not materialise.
5. Succession Risk
Hamdi is 52. What happens in 20 years? Employee ownership helps, but founder-led companies often struggle with transitions.
6. Capital Intensity
Food manufacturing requires constant reinvestment. That £1.2B in new plants needs to generate returns, or it’s just expensive infrastructure.
My Take: Chobani stays a winner if they stay private and patient.
The moment they go public and start optimising for quarterly earnings, they lose the advantage. Wall Street will push them to cut costs, stop investing in infrastructure, buy back shares instead of building plants.
But if Hamdi maintains control, keeps investing in real competitive advantages (manufacturing, employee ownership, strategic M&A), and stays focused on 20-year value creation not 5-year exits Chobani could become the Berkshire Hathaway of premium food.
A £50B+ company in 2045? Absolutely possible.
The Lessons for Everyone Else
You don’t need to be in the yogurt business to learn from Chobani:
1. Debt Can Be Better Than Equity
If your business is profitable, debt lets you keep control whilst accessing capital for growth. Don’t give away 60% of your company to VCs when a bank will lend you money at 8%.
2. Profitability Is Power
When you’re profitable, you have options. You can wait out bad markets. You can acquire competitors. You can invest in infrastructure. Unprofitable companies have to take whatever terms investors offer.
3. Infrastructure Is a Real Moat
Software companies can be copied. Manufacturing plants can’t. If you’re in physical products, owning production is how you win long-term.
4. Patient Capital Beats Fast Money
Pension funds thinking in 20-year windows beat VCs thinking in 5-year windows. Choose your capital partners based on time horizon, not just valuation.
5. Category Leadership Through Quality
Chobani won by being better. More protein. Better taste. Actual Greek yogurt. Premium positioning built on real product advantages.
Your Takeaway
Hamdi Ulukaya bought a defunct yogurt factory with a government loan in 2005. Twenty years later, he’s worth £9-10 billion, his employees are millionaires, and Chobani is projecting £2.85 billion in revenue.
He did this by creating:
A good product people wanted
Profitable unit economics from day one
Strategic use of debt instead of equity
Real investment in infrastructure and people
Patient capital partners with long-term horizons
Staying private and in control
What are you building that could last 20 years instead of chasing a 5-year exit?
Keep building,
David
P.S. Hamdi gave 10% of his company to employees when it was worth £220M. Today that’s worth £1.5B. Meanwhile, most startups give employees options worth £0 when the company inevitably fails. If you’re going to build a company, build one that makes your employees wealthy not just your investors.