Femi Otedola Biography and Net Worth

Femi Otedola is a famous Nigerian business magnate, investor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Forte Oil PLC, an importer of fuel products. He is also the founder of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, and the owner of many other businesses which include shipping, real estate and finance.

He has recently invested in power generation as part of the liberalization of the sector in Nigeria. He is currently the third richest man in Nigeria. He was born on 4th November 1962 in Ibadan, Oyo State in the south western part of Nigeria. He is currently 55 years old. Femi Otedola is currently the proud father of Nigerian famous female DJ and musician, DJ Cuppy.

Femi Otedola was born in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State in the south western part of Nigeria into the family of the late Sir Michael Otedola, the former Governor of Lagos State from 1992 to 1993 during the military regime.

Femi Otedola in 2003, having identified an opportunity in the fuel retail market, secured the finance to set up Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, a petroleum company based in marketing and distribution of petroleum products.

In March 2007, Femi Otedola obtained a loan of N193.5 billion from ten banks in Nigeria to fund his company Zenon, as a working capital to build the largest premium motor spirit storage facility in Africa.

In 2007, Femi Otedola was appointed as the Chairman and Chief Executive Office of Africa Petroleum through the acquisition of a controlling stake in the business. In December 2007, Femi Otedola personally acquired a further 29.3 per cent of the company shares for N40 billion. A merger of this personal holding with Zenon’s brought Femi Otedola’s total stake to 55.3 per cent.

As owner and chairman of Zenon, in 2004, Femi Otedola invested N15 billion in downstream infrastructure development and acquired storage depots at Ibafon, Apapa in Lagos State, Nigeria, as well as four cargo vessels, amounting to a combined total storage capacity of 147,000 metric tones. That same year, which was in 2004, Femi Otedola acquired a fleet of 100 DAF fuel-tanker trucks for N1.4 billion.

By 2005, his company Zenon controlled a major share of the Nigerian diesel market, supplying fuel to most of the major manufacturers in the country including Dangote Group, Cadbury, Coca-cola, Nigerian Breweries, MTN, Unilever, Nestle and Guinness.

In March 2009, Femi Otedola became the second Nigerian after Aliko Dangote to appear on the Forbes list of the richest billionaires in Africa, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion as of March 2009. In October 2009, Femi Otedola announced a move to upgrade African Petroleum’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage terminals in Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt.

In December 2010, Femi Otedola rebranded his company’s name “African Petroleum” and changed its name to “Forte Oil PLC”. Femi Otedola carried out a restructuring of the business, focusing on technology and improved corporate governance. In 2012, Forte Oil returned to profit, becoming one of the largest conglomerates in Nigeria.

In 2013, Femi Otedola acquired the 414 MW Geregu Power Plants for $132 million. In September 2015, his company Forte Oil sold 17 per cent of its equity to Swiss commodity trader “Mercuria Energy Group” giving his company Forte Oil access to global commodity markets. The deal resulted to an income worth $200 million for Femi Otedola.

Femi Otedola is also the Chief Executive Officer and President of SeaForce Shipping Company Ltd and was at one point Nigeria’s largest ship owner after extending control over the distribution of diesel products. One of his ships, a flat bottomed bunker vessel with a storage capacity of 16,000 metric tones, was the first of its kind in Africa.

In January 2006, Femi Otedola was appointed a non-executive director of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, a multi-sectoral conglomerate established in 2004 by the former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to respond to market opportunities requiring heavy capital investment in Nigeria and across Sub-Saharan Africa. Femi Otedola held this post until February 2011.

Femi Otedola has made several number of real estate investments, including a N2.3 billion acquisition of Zenon of Stallion House in February 2007 in Victoria Island, Lagos State, Nigeria, from the Federal Government of Nigeria. Femi Otedola is also the owner and chairman of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, a seven star hotel in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. He is also the owner of FO Properties Ltd.

Femi Otedola is currently married to Nana Otedola and the marriage is currently blessed with four lovely children namely Florence Otedola popularly known as DJ Cuppy, Olawumni Christy Otedola, Temi Otedola and Fewa Otedola.

Femi Otedola is currently the third richest and most influential man in Nigeria and one of the richest men in the world with an estimated net worth of $3 billion.