The founder and CEO of Chobani has settled a lawsuit filed by his ex-wife , who laid claim to half the $ 2 billion Greek yogurt empire . Hamdi Ulukaya was once a Turkish immigrant with dreams of making it big in the U.S. food industry . His American-born ex , Dr. Ayse Giray , sued him in 2012 on claims her family lent him $ 500,000 that helped make his dreams a reality . On April 10 , after years of wrangling and a pronouncement by Giray 's camp just last month that the parties were no where near an agreement , Ulukaya settled for an unknown sum . Settled : Hamdi Ulukaya , the founder and CEO of Chobani , has settled a lawsuit filed by his ex-wife , who laid claim to half the $ 2 billion Greek yogurt empire . The settlement came just before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla was due to rule on whether Giray could retroactively be named a shareholder in Chobani 's predecessor company , a feta cheese operation called Euphrates . Giray first sued Ulukaya in 2012 for a 53 percent stake in the company . The two were married just two years in the 1990s and Ulukaya 's company was not an issue in their divorce , according to the New York Post . Yogurt boom : Giray first sued Ulukaya in 2012 for a 53 percent stake in the company . The two were married just two years in the 1990s and Ulukaya 's company was not an issue in their divorce . However , in early 2015 , court documents revealed that Giray was basing at least part of her claim on scribbled handwritten notes her lawyers were 'confirmation that monies were provided . ' Ulukaya wrote the notes off as mere 'family expenses . ' Nonetheless , his camp settled rather than leave themselves open to losing assets worth $ 1 billion to Giray . But even with this suit behind him , Ulukaya still has business problems ahead of him . Since early this year , Chobani has been considering replacing him as CEO , the New York Post reported , citing people familiar with the matter . One of the primary reasons for the removal of Ulukaya , who founded the company , is a product recall in 2013 that led to negative EBITDA of $ 87 million in the fourth quarter , the paper reported , citing internal documents it reviewed . The recall was a result of bad design and layout incorporated during the construction of the company 's $ 450 million Idaho factory , and due to lack of training for workers , the Post reported . Ulukaya , who built the factory , kept a lot of his key executives in the dark as they continued to spend freely amid mounting losses and increasing chaos at the factory , the report said . Private-equity firm TPG invested $ 750 million in the New Berlin , New York-based company last year to save it from the cash crunch arising as a result of the problems at Idaho . Nick of time : The settlement came just before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla was due to rule on whether Giray could retroactively be named a shareholder in Chobani 's predecessor company , a feta cheese operation called Euphrates .
Dr. Ayse Giray first sued Hamdi Ulukaya in 2012 on claims her family lent him $ $ 2 billion that helped him build the yogurt empire .