• Born on 10 December 1982 in Mardin, Turkey
• Holds Turkish nationality and ethnicity is Kurdish
• 8ft 3ins (2.51m) tall, making him the 7th tallest man in history
• Suffers from acromegaly and gigantism caused by tumor in his pituitary gland
• Net worth estimated at over $200,000 as of late 2022
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Sultan Kösen Wiki
He was born under the zodiac sign of Sagittarius on 10 December 1982, and so Sultan Kösen recently celebrated his 40th birthday. Don’t be confused by the word ‘Sultan’ in his name – he’s not a Turkish ruler, but is a world record-holder in height. Sultan hails from Mardin, a city in southeastern Turkey, and holds Turkish nationality, while his ethnicity is Kurdish.
Sultan Kösen is 8ft 3ins (2.51m) tall, which makes him the 7th tallest man in history. To learn more about him, keep on reading this article, and you will find some interesting facts about his childhood, his condition, and how he becomes the holder of the Guinness World Record.
Early life, family, and education
Sultan was nine years old when he realized that he was ‘different’ than other children. His parents, Camile and Abdulkadir and his four siblings are all of average size. The reason for his growth is acromegaly and gigantism, conditions caused by a tumor that affected his pituitary gland or hypophysis.
As a child, he underwent three operations, however, they didn’t help, and Sultan continued growing. In 2011, he visited the University of Virginia, USA where he was treated with radiotherapy, which helped to stop his growth. Sultan believes that he would have continued growing without this treatment, and when he realized that the therapy gave the results he hoped for, he finally felt better in his own skin.
Due to his condition, Sultan wasn’t able to attend school; as a teenager, he began working as a part-time farmer, then in 2014, he joined the Magic Circus of Samoa.
A day in the life of the world’s tallest man
According to Sultan, there are some advantages of being that tall, such as cleaning the ceiling or changing bulbs and curtains, but most of the time, he struggles. Sultan can’t drive a car, as there aren’t many he can fit into. He likes to travel, but it makes him uncomfortable; during his travels he learned the English language, and is very happy about that.
Another thing that Sultan doesn’t like about his growth is that his hands are too big for small-screen phones – he finds it hard to type on them.
Also, Sultan doesn’t enjoy drawing so much public attention; some people would come into his house at night and wake him up, just to see him in person. This is the reason why he lives in a village.
It is hard for Sultan to find clothes that suit him. His sleeve needs to be around 39ins (98cm) long, while his legs are nearly 50ins (1.26m) long. If you wondered about his shoe size, his foot is 14ins (36cm), so it’s hard to find a shoe that fits him. Also, Sultan can’t walk without a cane.
He likes music and social media platforms, so for most of his day, Sultan spends filming and posting messages to his fans, mostly about the importance of saving our world for our children and grandchildren, friendship, and peace. According to Sultan, the most important thing for him, besides all of the aforementioned, is to be a good person.
Sultan’s Instagram account has been followed by nearly 100,000 people, and he’s posted over 200 times. He likes to share photos and videos from his travels.
He also has his official Facebook page, which has amassed nearly 15,000 fans.
Sultan launched his eponymous YouTube channel on 10 April 2015, and it’s today subscribed to by over 10,000 people, while all of his videos combined number nearly 450,000 views.
His most viewed video – “SULTAN KÖSEN YEAR 2003” – uploaded on 26 October 2020, has been viewed over 15,000 times, in which Sultan approaches the basket and lightly dunks the ball; many comment under the video that if he played basketball, he’d be unstoppable.
Perhaps you didn’t know that he was signed to the Turkish Galatasaray basketball team, however, he was too tall to play, but this didn’t stop him being a fan of the game to this day.
Guinness world records
Sultan Kösen became the first man over 8ft (2.4m), measured by Guinness World Records in London, England, in 200, and named the tallest living man.
In 2011, when Sultan was 26 years old, he was measured again in Ankara Turkey, and his height then was 8ft 1ins (2.46m).
Sultan also holds the record largest hands on a living person; from wrist to the tip of his middle finger, his hands are 11ins (25.5cm) long.
Previously, he also held the record for the largest feet.
Love life and wife
One of Sultan’s biggest dreams was to marryd and have a family; his wish came true in 2013, when Sultan met his future wife, Merve Dibo, a Syrian-born girl, who was ten years younger than him and ‘several’ inches shorter. Merve is 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, which is an average height.
Merve traveled from Hasaki, Syria to Sultan’s village to meet him, and after two months, they married, in a wedding ceremony held in October 2013, celebrating their matrimony with over 1,500 guests, including a representative of Guinness World Records.
The couple lived in their specially designed home in Dede Koy, a Turkish village, where Sultan still resides; he lives alone because Merve divorced him in 2021. Sultan said that the biggest problem in their marriage was communication – he spoke Turkish and English, while his ex-wife only spoke Arabic.
As of December 2022, Sultan is single, but as he said, he’s hoping that one day he’ll find another woman with whom he will perhaps have children.
How rich is he?
As mentioned, Sultan worked as a farmer, and this is still his main source of income. However, thanks to the popularity he has gained as the holder of the world record, he’s managed to use his fame to earn some extra money.
Sultan participated in various shows around the world, and according to sources, as of late 2022, his net worth has been estimated at over $200,000.
