Business

How dair-he! Sour ex sues the ‘Yogurt King’

(AP)

Talk about spilled milk!

The former wife of “Yogurt King” Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of popular Greek-style yogurt brand Chobani, slapped her ex with a milk-curdling suit yesterday, accusing him of cheating her out of a majority share of the Norwich, NY, dairy empire.

In a civil complaint filed in New York state court yesterday, Ayse Giray, a medical doctor, said Ulukaya promised her a 53 percent stake in his dairy business in exchange for $500,000 in startup funding she provided him between 1997 and 2003.

Instead, Ulukaya wiggled out of the commitment by quietly launching a separate company in 2004 that eventually became Chobani, according to the complaint.

Giray claims the couple launched cheese-maker Euphrates in 1997, a few months after they married. The loan to start the company was taken out using Giray’s credit, and she put $200,000 into the business, alleges the suit.

After they divorced in 1999, Giray and Ulukaya remained business partners. Between 2002 and 2003, Giray said she gave Ulukaya another $300,000 — to help Euphrates expand into other dairy products, including yogurt.

Instead, Ulukaya quietly launched another entity that he used to buy an aging yogurt plant from Kraft Foods in 2005. That company, now Chobani, has become the nation’s No. 3 yogurt maker, behind Dannon and Yoplait.

Giray said she only discovered her ex used a different entity to buy the Chobani plant in 2007, at which time he promised that their previous deal would also apply to Chobani.

But Ulukaya changed his tune in 2011 when she asked for her share of the company’s profits, she said. In addition to the 53 percent stake, Giray is also seeking an accounting of the private company to assess damages, said Richard Feldman, a lawyer on the case.

Chobani didn’t immediately return a request for comment.