If ๐ณ๐ฌ top tycoons shifted toward broader equity distribution and floating more stock publicly, it could radically transform ๐ณ๐ฌ middle class population
That money you want to send her this weekend...
She and her friends will laugh at your debit alert.
Put it in your brokerage account instead.
At least your stockbroker won't screenshot your balance and post it in the group chat.
Femi Otedolaโs Comeback: How He Became a Billionaire Again
After the 2008 crash stripped almost everything away, Otedola was left with two personal properties, his Victoria Island office, and his controlling stake in the struggling listed company African Petroleum Plc.
He bet everything on that one remaining asset.
In December 2010, he rebranded it Forte Oil Plc and launched a ruthless turnaround. He cut costs, upgraded technology and supply chains, strengthened governance, and secured smarter deals. He also quietly bought back more shares while they traded at rock-bottom prices during the panic.
Oil prices recovered. Forte Oil turned profitable again by 2012. The stock surged spectacularly in 2013. By 2014, Otedola was back on the Forbes billionaire list with a net worth around $1.8 billion. He had cleared every kobo and rebuilt from that single lifeboat stake.
He didnโt stop there.
In 2019, he sold his 75% stake in Forte Oil to Prudent Energy for about โฆ64.9 billion to focus on power. He had taken control of Geregu Power in 2013, and in October 2022 he listed it on the NGX, the first power generation company on the exchange.
In December 2025, he sold his controlling Geregu stake for โฆ1.088 trillion ($750 million), one of the largest private power deals in Nigerian history.
He then pivoted to banking. He now owns 17.01% of First HoldCo, parent of First Bank, as its single largest shareholder, and chairs the board. The shares he bought around โฆ5 now trade above โฆ50.
In 2026, he revealed he sold part of his Geregu stake to invest $100 million in the upcoming Dangote Refinery IPO.
Forbes puts his net worth around $1.6 billion today.
In 2008, banks sent men to his house at dawn to collect.
Today, he owns the largest stake in one of the oldest banks in the country.
Full circle.