Femi Otedola Biography and Net Worth

His Early Life And Childhood

Femi Otedola was born on the 4th of November 1962, at Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. His father, Sir Michael Otedola was the Governor of Lagos State from 1992 to 1993.

From a very early stage, Otedola started showing a serious interest in business and his parents made sure he started learning about it as much as he can. With his Dad’s support and guidance, he started his first business at the age of 6. This business was called FEMCO then and involved the young man taking care of their visitor’s nails and then getting paid after that. While in this business, he learned how to write a receipt, save as much as he can and then invest more in his business. In his viral interview about his business life, here’s what Otedola is reported to have said.

“I had my first business at the age of six. It was called FEMCO. I would offer to groom my parents’ guests’ nails. Then, write a receipt and charge them for my service. They paid me too. I always had an interest in business”. His great rise started in 2003 when he managed to raise some finance through various means to go into the Oil and Gas in Nigeria.

With this finance he raised he started Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd. A marketing and Distribution Company that focused only on Petroleum products. This business venture turned out to be a great idea as it started generating huge amounts of money on a daily basis. The more money he made from the business, the more he invested in it, expanding his reach all over the country. Things started going very well for him and his business that in 2005, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, biggest companies in Nigeria as at that time. Some of these companies are MTN, Dangote Group, Coca-Cola, Guinness Nestle, Unilever, Cadbury, Nigerian breweries, etc.

By 2007, the company already had enough money to invest in African Petroleum for a part of its controlling shares, following this acquisition, Otedola was made the chairman and CEO of African Petroleum. Just a few months after that, he invested more money into the company again, raising his business shares in African Petroleum to 55.3%. Otedola,s arrival yielded so much fruit to the company that same year as it saw it’s market capitalization rise from #36million to #217million in just six months of his arrival.

As part of the changes that were coming to the company since Otedola took over as the Chairman and CEO, in2010, African Petroleum rebranded and changed its name to Forte Oil PLC. In 2013, Forte Oil diversified into Power Generation and started Amperion Ltd, a power generating company that is a subsidiary of Otedola’s oil and Gas company. Prior to establishing Forte Oil, Otedola started CentreForce Ltd, a firm that is into finance, investments, and trading. He also has other business firms like Swift Insurance, SeaForce Shipping Company Ltd, FO Properties Ltd, and also the Chairman of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.