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Femi Otedola is a Nigerian businessman best known for building Zenon Petroleum and later Forte Oil into major players in the country’s downstream oil sector, and for his current role as chairman of First HoldCo, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria. He is back in the headlines in 2026 for aggressively increasing his stake in First HoldCo, a buying spree that has made him the largest individual shareholder in Nigeria’s oldest bank and pushed his personal fortune sharply higher.
Who Is Femi Otedola?
Femi Otedola is a Nigerian businessman, investor and philanthropist who made his name in the oil and gas industry before shifting his focus to banking. He is the chairman of First HoldCo Plc, the former chairman of Forte Oil Plc, and the former executive chairman of Geregu Power Plc. Outside business, he is widely known in Nigeria as the father of DJ Cuppy, the musician and disc jockey, and Temi Otedola, the actress and fashion entrepreneur.
Real Name, Age and Date of Birth
His full name is Olufemi Peter Otedola. He was born on November 4, 1962, in Ibadan, in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria, which makes him 63 years old as of this article’s publication. Although he was born in Ibadan, his family’s roots trace back to Epe, in Lagos State, and he is Yoruba. He holds the national honor of Commander of the Order of the Niger, and Nigerians commonly refer to him by his full title, Chief Femi Otedola, CON.
Early Life and Background
Otedola was born into a prominent Lagos political family. His father, Sir Michael Otedola, served as governor of Lagos State from 1992 to 1993, and his mother, Lady Doja Otedola, was a businesswoman in her own right. He attended Methodist Boys’ High School and Olivet Baptist High School in Lagos for his secondary education.
For years, public profiles and even his own Wikipedia page listed him as a graduate of the University of Lagos or Obafemi Awolowo University. Otedola addressed this directly in his 2025 memoir, “Making It Big,” where he stated that he never completed a university degree and that his real education came from watching his father’s business dealings and learning through hands on experience rather than in a classroom. He has also said that a loan of 250,000 pounds from his father helped him scale up Zenon Petroleum in its early years, a detail he shared to illustrate the influence his father had on his career.
Family and Personal Life
Otedola is married to Nana Otedola, and the couple has four children: Tolani, a singer and songwriter, Florence, known professionally as DJ Cuppy, Temi, an actress and fashion entrepreneur, and Fewa, their only son, who lives with autism and has largely stayed out of the public eye. DJ Cuppy has built an international profile as a musician and United Nations youth ambassador, while Temi Otedola has worked in Nollywood and fashion and married Nigerian musician Mr Eazi in 2025.
Career Beginnings
Otedola’s early working life began in his family’s printing business before he moved toward finance and trading. In 2003, he identified an opportunity in Nigeria’s fuel retail market and secured financing to establish Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, a petroleum products marketing and distribution company. Within a year, he had invested heavily in downstream infrastructure, acquiring storage depots in Apapa and several cargo vessels, giving Zenon a combined storage capacity of about 147,000 metric tons.
Breakthrough and Rise to Fame
Zenon’s rapid growth set up Otedola’s defining early move. In May 2007, he initiated the purchase of a majority stake in African Petroleum Plc and joined its board as chairman later that month. Under his leadership, African Petroleum was rebranded as Forte Oil Plc, which went on to become one of the strongest performing stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In March 2009, that growth helped make Otedola the second Nigerian, after Aliko Dangote, to appear on Forbes’ list of dollar denominated billionaires, with an estimated net worth of 1.2 billion dollars at the time.
His rise was not without setbacks. During the global financial crisis later that year, Otedola’s fortune lost more than a billion dollars in value, and he temporarily fell off the billionaire rankings. He rebuilt his position gradually over the following decade through Forte Oil and by expanding into power generation.
Career and Major Achievements
After stepping back from Forte Oil, which he sold his controlling stake in during 2019, Otedola concentrated on Geregu Power Plc, an electricity generation company he once controlled with a stake of more than 95 percent. He gradually sold down that position to bring in institutional investors, including the Nigerian government, Afrexim Fund for Export Development in Africa, and State Grid Corporation of China, and in 2025 he sold a further majority portion of his Geregu stake, reportedly pocketing around 750 million dollars while retaining a smaller residual holding.
His current focus is First HoldCo Plc, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria. He first disclosed a strategic stake in the group, then known as FBN Holdings, in 2021, gradually increasing his position over several years and becoming its largest individual shareholder. He was formally appointed group chairman of First HoldCo’s board on January 31, 2024, according to the company’s own leadership records. Since then, he has continued to buy shares aggressively through his investment vehicle Calvados Global Services Limited, even after First HoldCo took an 830 billion naira impairment charge in 2025 to clean up legacy non performing loans, a decision that hurt short term profit but was aimed at strengthening the bank for the long run.
Femi Otedola’s Most Notable Ventures
- Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, the fuel distribution company that launched his career in the downstream oil sector
- Forte Oil Plc, formerly African Petroleum, which he chaired and transformed into a top performing Nigerian Stock Exchange company
- Geregu Power Plc, a major Nigerian electricity generation company
- First HoldCo Plc, parent of First Bank of Nigeria, where he currently serves as group chairman
- “Making It Big,” his 2025 memoir on his business career, released in hardcover and paperback on August 18, 2025
Awards and Recognition
Otedola was conferred with the national honor of Commander of the Order of the Niger in recognition of his contributions to the Nigerian economy. He has also served in several public facing roles, including as a member of Nigeria’s National Economic Management Team, president of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, and chancellor of Augustine University in Ilara, Epe, Lagos State. Through the Sir Michael Otedola Scholarship Awards Foundation, named for his father, he has supported financially disadvantaged students from his home community of Epe.
Influence and Cultural Impact
Within Nigeria’s business press, Otedola is often cited as an example of a high conviction investor willing to make large, concentrated bets and stay committed through periods of market skepticism, a pattern industry commentators have traced from his early Zenon and Forte Oil years through to his current buildup in First HoldCo. His memoir, “Making It Big,” became a bestseller on Amazon after its 2025 release and prompted wider public discussion in Nigeria about self-made success stories that do not follow a conventional university education path. His daughters, DJ Cuppy and Temi Otedola, have also extended the Otedola name into Nigeria’s entertainment and fashion industries, giving the family a public profile that goes beyond business circles.
Current Projects and Latest News
Otedola’s most significant recent activity has been his continued buildup of shares in First HoldCo through 2026. In May, he spent about 43.4 billion naira on shares that lifted his stake to roughly 19.36 percent, followed by a further purchase through a 45 billion naira private placement in June that raised his holding to about 20.42 percent, according to filings reported by Nairametrics and Billionaires.Africa. By August, additional purchases through Calvados Global Services Limited, including an 18.1 billion naira acquisition on August 6, pushed his stake past 26 percent, and Nairametrics reported that his combined direct and indirect holding reached approximately 26.71 percent by early September 2026, with a market value of about 1.82 trillion naira. Some reports describe his goal as pursuing outright control of the bank, though First HoldCo has not confirmed that characterization in an official statement.
The stock’s performance has amplified the effect of his buying. First HoldCo’s share price climbed from about 56.05 naira at the end of the first half of 2026 to nearly 150 naira by early September, a rally that coincided with the bank posting a 72.2 percent year on year increase in first quarter profit before tax, to 321 billion naira, following the completion of its 2025 loan cleanup.
This activity has also driven a sharp rise in Otedola’s personal fortune. Forbes’ real time billionaire tracker put his net worth at about 1.3 billion dollars in March 2026 and around 1.8 billion dollars by August 2026, a roughly 38 percent increase in under six months that outpaced the gains recorded by most other African billionaires that Forbes tracks. Reported net worth figures for Otedola have varied across sources and time periods, reflecting the fact that his fortune is tied closely to First HoldCo’s fluctuating share price rather than a fixed valuation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Femi Otedola? He is a Nigerian businessman and the chairman of First HoldCo Plc, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria, and a former chairman of Forte Oil Plc.
What is Femi Otedola’s real name? His full name is Olufemi Peter Otedola.
How old is Femi Otedola? He was born on November 4, 1962, which makes him 63 years old as of this article.
Where is Femi Otedola from? He was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, but his family origins are in Epe, Lagos State, and he is Yoruba.
Did Femi Otedola attend university? No. In his 2025 memoir, “Making It Big,” he clarified that he never completed a university degree, correcting earlier reports that named him as a graduate of the University of Lagos.
Who are Femi Otedola’s children? He has four children with his wife, Nana Otedola: Tolani, Florence (DJ Cuppy), Temi and Fewa.
What is the latest news about Femi Otedola? Through 2026, he has sharply increased his shareholding in First HoldCo, reaching a stake of roughly 26.71 percent by early September, which has made him the bank’s largest individual shareholder and lifted his personal net worth toward 1.8 billion dollars.
