Femi Otedola is a billionaire known for his fame in business as an oil & gas mogul and currently a big player in power sector.
Age
He celebrated his 60th birthday on 4th November 2022.
Wife
He is married to his sweetheart Nana Otedola
Children
He has four children all together. He has three famous daughters and a son
Early Life/Background
Femi Otedola was born on 4th November 1962 to the famous Sir Michael Otedola family who served as the executive Governor of Lagos State in 1992-1993. He was born in South West, Nigeria two years after Nigeria gained independence from Great Britain. As at the time of his birth in 1962, Nigeria still practiced regional parliamentary system of Government and it is also correct to say that he was born in the old Western region which had her headquarters in Ibadan, present day Oyo State. His father was a business man who later became a notable politician.
His early life was marked with his father’s up bringing where he saw his late father working hard to build his business empire. It was an early exposure that helped him in defining his later career journey where he mastered resilience.
Education
He attended Olivet Baptist High School for his secondary school education before proceeding to Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) for his further studies.
Business Career
Femi chose a different business from his father’s and he created a name for himself in Oil and Gas industry.
His business career as an oil mogul started when he founded Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd which was the oil company he floated to play big in downstream sector of Nigeria Oil and Gas. He was very big in the business and understood the secrets of the business that made him a fast rising business man in oil business. His business acumen enabled him to go for bigger business partnerships that later brought Forte Oil Plc.
He design the company to play bigger as an importer of refined petroleum products especially Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO). He was the chairman and highest share holder in the company for many years before he sold his majority stake in Forte Oil Plc and started a new company that playing big in power sector.
He is not an entrepreneur that has not noticed set back in business. It is true that he was born with a silver spoon since his father was an accomplished business man and politician but he also passed through a big business challenge that threatened his personal life and tested his resilience as an uncommon entrepreneur. During his flourishing days in business, he once took bank loan to import Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) as at the time when he was one of the biggest marketers in downstream sector and unluckily for him, price went down before his products landing where he lost everything.
He was faced with the devil and the deep blue sea. He contemplated many things as a way to save himself and later took the bull by the horn through taking a decision many people in the world will avoid. He is a wise man and when he was recording success in his business, he was buying shares in banks, companies and investing hugely in real estate. When his problem started, he figured his way by deciding to be a winner.
Femi demonstrated that only cowards run away from their problems. He faced his problem, analyzed the problem and tackled it with strategy of clearing his name in line with protecting his image and that of the family. Femi took the decision of starting all over again to rebuild. He became one of the billionaires in the world that lost everything on monetary base which are things that took him many years of sacrifice to build. He sold most of his real estate properties in Lagos and Abuja that were in strategic positions to clear his debts.
He sold his shareholding stakes in some banks and other companies where he had a board seat in line with his remarkable shares. He sold it all to repay back his loan to become a free man that will work freely without anyone threatening him with debt default. The business challenge he encountered taught him other business strategies that only adversity can expose. He went back to his drawing board to map out other approaches that can help him in rebuilding process as a man that is starting from the beginning after losing everything.
He did not give up on oil business after the challenge rather he took a bold step of analyzing his Strength, weakness, opportunity and Threat (SWOT). He also used the necessary Key performance Indicators to tell himself the truth in line with speeding up his rebuilding process in business to reclaim his lost seat as one of the biggest player in downstream sector oil and Gas. He surrounded himself with credible team members that he nurtured and shared his vision with and they all went into pursing the attainment of the mission and vision.
He rebuilt his business empire again and as the time he sold his majority shares in Forte Oil Plc, the company had many retail stations all over Nigeria and many haulage trucks doing supply for the company and clients.
After selling his majority shares in the oil company, he went to start a new company named Geregu Power Plc which is into electricity and power sector different from oil and Gas business that he has done for many years. As a man that once lost everything, he built from the scratch and it taught him how to start a new business from the scratch and gain high market share.
He started Geregu Power Plc where he served as the Chairman of the company and the company is known as a powerful power distribution company in Nigeria that is gaining public interest and raising hope for investors.
When he has started Geregu Plc, he once tried to buy some shares from Transcorp Group which has a subsidiary that is into Power. The company was a competitor and since it is publicly traded, he bought some shares which he later sold.
First Bank Board member
Femi is a shareholder in first bank and Central Bank of Nigeria recently confirmed his seat as a board member in First Bank.
Governorship Ambition
He dismissed the rumour that he was planning to run for the Governor of Lagos State. He is a business man that has not or never contested for political office like his late father Sir Michael Otedola. He seem happy to being a businessman and philanthropist. Even though he is not a politician, he still extends his solidarity political support to his friends and those he feels worth supporting to occupy public offices. He also performs his civic duties by voting regularly during general elections.
Social Media
He is very active in social media like Twitter now X and Instagram which he uses as a tool to share his private life, opinion on public matters and family life too.