Femi Otedola Biography, Net Worth, Wife, House, Cars And Daughter

Femi Otedola Biography

Femi Otedola is a Nigerian businessman, entrepreneur philanthropist, and chairman of Forte Oil Plc, an importer of fuel products. He is also the founder of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, and the owner of a number of other businesses across shipping, real estate, and finance.

Femi is the second Nigerian after Aliko Dangote to be included on the Forbes list of dollar-denominated billionaires. He has recently invested in power generation as part of the liberalization of the sector in Nigeria.

Femi Otedola Age

Femi was born on November 4, 1962, in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, western Nigeria. He is 57 years old as of 2019.

Femi Otedola Family

Femi was born into the family of the late Sir Michael Otedola, Governor of Lagos State from 1992 to 1993.

In the late 1980s, he ran the marketing for his family’s printing press before going on to trade petroleum products.

Femi Otedola Wife

Otedola is married to Nana Otedola and has three daughters – Christine Oluwnmi, Florence Ifeoluwa, and Elizabeth Temi – and a son, Fewa. Florence Otedola, aka DJ Cuppy, is a DJ and music producer, as well as a tourism ambassador for Nigeria. Her younger sister, Temi, is a style blogger and aspiring designer.

Femi Otedola Education

 

Femi Otedola House

Otedola has homes in Lagos, Abuja, Dubai, London, and New York City.

Femi Otedola Daughter

Femi Otedola’s daughter, Ifeoluwa, is a popular disc jockey who goes by the moniker ‘DJ Cuppy’. She was the official disc jockey during the May 2015 inauguration of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.

Femi Otedola Cars

This information is being updated

Femi Otedola Net Worth

In March 2009 Otedola became the second Nigerian after Aliko Dangote to appear on the Forbes list of dollar-denominated billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion.

Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola on the day he lost everything

Life was rosy for Femi Otedola until it took a sudden turn leaving him billions in the red. He had to start all over again.

In 2008, a shipment containing one million tons of diesel set sail, heading for the shores of Nigeria. The owner of the vessel, Femi Otedola, Chairman of Forte Oil, a petroleum and power generation company, had grown the company to one of the largest in Nigeria, with over 500 gas stations, according to Forbes. The growth had been rapid and profits were at an all-time high. Then disaster struck.

“I had about 93 percent of the diesel market on my fingertips. All of a sudden oil prices collapsed and I had over one million tons of diesel on the high seas and the price dropped from $146 to $34,” says Otedola.

That was only the beginning of his problems. The naira was subsequently devalued and interest began to skyrocket. When the dust settled, Otedola had lost over $480 million due to the plunge in oil prices, $258 million through the devaluation of the naira, a further $320 million due to accruing interest and then finally $160 million when the stocks crashed.

“I had two options, either to commit suicide or to weather the storm. I decided to weather the storm. I just knew it was a phase I had to go through. You see God prepares you for greater things and of course, the experience is the best teacher so I had to learn my lessons. I took the bitter pill,” he says.

Otedola was now $1.2 billion in debt. He sought solace in the only thing that had set him on the path to discovering oil, destiny.

“You cannot compete with destiny, so it was my destiny to make billions every month and lose billions as well. I said to myself ‘I was not going to have friends and enemies, I was only going to have competitors.”

At the age of six, Otedola had already discovered his knack for business. He would provide manicure and pedicure services to his father and his friends and write them a receipt for payment. On his birthday, while all his friends wanted toys, Otedola asked his father for a briefcase instead. His father, Michael, as the Governor of Lagos State, was a respected man. Now, his son’s public fall threatened to destroy that name.

“After I lost the money, something that struck me was that my father had always been my role model in life and the first thing I had to do was to protect his name. He had a policy; honesty was the best policy, so I had to protect that name and his integrity.”

Just after the global banking crisis had struck, the Nigerian government established the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to buy up distressed loans. Otedola’s loan was sold to AMCON, by the bank he blamed for his demise.

“Experience is the best teacher. I didn’t have a proper structure and I also put the blame on the banks for not advising me. All they were interested in was the profits. They were not interested in the sustainability of the business, they were short-sighted and all they were interested in was throwing money at me. So they never advised me,” says Otedola.

The banks had to shave off about $400 million from the debt leaving Otedola $800 million in the red. AMCON offered him a restructuring deal, which Otedola declined. He opted instead to repay what he owed and start all over again.

“So we got a reputable firm to value my assets. I had about 184 flats, which I gave up. I was the largest investor in the Nigerian banking sector, which I gave up, I was also a major shareholder of Africa Finance Corporation and I was the Chairman of Transcorp Hilton. I was a shareholder in Mobil Oil Nigeria Limited, the second-largest shareholder in Chevron Texaco, Visafone and several companies which they valued, and I had to give up to repay the debt.”

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