Femi Otedola’s business story has two distinct chapters. The first is the fuel import and distribution empire built through AP (Forte Oil), which made him one of Nigeria’s wealthiest individuals through the 2000s and early 2010s. The second begins after he divested from Forte Oil in 2019 and began deploying capital differently — acquiring a major stake in FBN Holdings, making high-profile investments across financial services and infrastructure, and becoming more active in philanthropy. The two chapters involve different industries and different strategies, but the same underlying discipline about capital allocation.
That power company, Geregu Power, listed on the Nigerian Exchange in October 2022 and became the first independent power producer to do so. The market valuation it reached through 2024 and 2025 has been the single largest contributor to Otedola’s 2026 net worth, which Forbes Africa places in the $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion range.
Olufemi Peter Otedola was born on 4 November 1962. He is the son of Sir Michael Otedola, who served as Governor of Lagos State in the short-lived Third Republic. He is the father of musician DJ Cuppy and actor Temi Otedola, and one of the most visible faces of Nigerian private wealth.
This profile covers his Ibadan and Lagos upbringing, his early years in his father’s printing business, the founding of Zenon Petroleum, the Forte Oil chairmanship, the Geregu Power acquisition and listing, his other holdings in Zenith Bank and FBN Holdings, and his role as a parent of three publicly visible adult children.
Quick facts
Full name
Olufemi Peter Otedola
Date of birth
4 November 1962
Age (2026)
63
Birthplace
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
State of origin
Epe, Lagos State
Heritage
Yoruba
Father
Sir Michael Otedola, Governor of Lagos State 1992 to 1993
Education
Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo; University of Lagos
Children
Tolani Otedola, DJ Cuppy (Florence), Temi Otedola, Fewa Otedola (deceased)
Current chairmanship
Geregu Power PLC (~70 percent stake)
Other holdings
Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings; real estate in Lagos, Dubai, London, Monaco
Net worth (2026 estimate)
~$1.5bn to $2.0bn (Forbes Africa)
Early life and family
Femi Otedola was born on 4 November 1962 in Ibadan, where his father had moved to take up newspaper publishing work in the early 1960s. The Otedola family is from Epe, a town on the eastern flank of Lagos State, although Femi himself grew up between Ibadan and Lagos.
His father, Sir Michael Agbolade Otedola, was a journalist, publisher, and politician who served as the Governor of Lagos State from January 1992 until November 1993, when the Sani Abacha junta dissolved the elected state governments. Sir Michael had been the proprietor of the Ojulegba Press and a long-time figure in Lagos publishing before he entered politics under the National Republican Convention banner.
Femi attended Olivet Baptist High School in Oyo for his secondary education before completing his university education at the University of Lagos. He has cited his father in subsequent interviews as the figure who shaped his early discipline around work hours and public conduct.
The family environment was political, commercial, and Yoruba-Lagos to its core. Femi has said in his 2024 memoir Making it Big, co-written with the journalist Dele Momodu, that his father’s pre-political publishing business gave him an early understanding of how working capital and customer relationships actually function in Nigerian small-business reality.
Printing, commodities, and the founding of Zenon
Femi Otedola worked in the family’s printing business through the 1980s, learning the operational rhythm of a small Nigerian production business before he transitioned into commodities trading in his late twenties.
By the late 1990s he had built up enough trading capital to move into the petroleum products business. He founded Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited in approximately 2003, importing diesel and aviation fuel for the Nigerian and West African market.
Within five years Zenon was one of the largest downstream marketers in Nigeria, with significant tank farm capacity at the Apapa port and a national network of distributors. The Zenon brand became visible across motorway petrol stations on the Lagos to Ibadan corridor.
Forte Oil chairmanship
In 2007, Zenon acquired a controlling stake in the listed African Petroleum, the privatised downstream petroleum products marketer that the Federal Government had divested earlier in the decade. The acquired company was rebranded as Forte Oil PLC.
Under Otedola’s chairmanship, Forte Oil operated a national network of more than 500 retail stations across Nigeria, plus its own lubricants business and a downstream supply chain that spanned tank farms, trucks, and aviation fuel deliveries.
Through the 2010s, however, the economics of the Nigerian downstream sector tightened. Margins on regulated petrol pricing compressed, and policy uncertainty around subsidy reform deepened. In 2019, Otedola divested his Forte Oil stake to the Prudent Energy consortium, and used the proceeds to pivot his portfolio toward power generation.
Geregu Power and the 2022 listing
Otedola became the chairman of Geregu Power PLC, a 435 megawatt gas-fired power plant in Ajaokuta, Kogi State, which he had originally acquired during the 2013 privatisation of the Nigerian power sector. The asset had operated as a private business through the late 2010s under his ownership before he prepared it for the public market.
Geregu Power was listed on the Nigerian Exchange in October 2022, becoming the first independent power producer on the NGX. Otedola initially held more than 95 percent of the shares; through 2022 and 2023, he sold down minority stakes to institutional investors including the Afreximbank-backed Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) and the State Grid Corporation of China.
He retains a controlling position of approximately 70 percent of the shares. Through 2024 and 2025, Geregu Power’s share price ran from its initial listing range into territory that valued the company at substantially more than the original IPO range, making the holding the single largest contributor to Otedola’s tracked net worth.
Banking shareholdings and other holdings
Otedola has been one of the larger private shareholders in Zenith Bank and FBN Holdings, the parent of First Bank of Nigeria, since the early 2020s. He built the FBN Holdings position through open-market purchases from 2021 onward, eventually reaching one of the largest single private shareholdings in the bank.
His Zenith Bank shareholding is older and has been part of his portfolio since the bank’s earlier capital-raising rounds. Both holdings are disclosed in the banks’ annual returns.
Beyond the listed equity, Otedola owns properties in Lagos (Ikoyi and Victoria Island), London, Dubai, and Monaco, plus a documented yacht and a private aircraft. He has occasionally posted holiday photographs from the family yacht on his official Instagram account.
Personal life
Femi Otedola is married to Nana Otedola. They have four children together. Tolani is the eldest, followed by Florence, who performs and produces music as DJ Cuppy. Temi is an actor and film producer who starred in the EbonyLife and Netflix film Citation (2020). Fewa, his fourth child, passed away.
The family is one of the more publicly visible in Lagos society, although Otedola himself has been measured in how much of the family’s day-to-day life he allows into the public conversation. He maintains an active Instagram presence focused on his business activity and family holidays.
DJ Cuppy holds dual Nigerian and British citizenship and is based primarily between Lagos and London. Temi Otedola is married to the British-Nigerian Afrobeats artist Mr Eazi, whom she married in 2024.
Philanthropy and public statements
Otedola has been one of the more active Nigerian private donors of the post-2010 period. In 2019, he pledged five billion naira to Save the Children Nigeria, the largest single donation by an individual Nigerian to that organisation at the time. The pledge was paid down in tranches over the following two years.
He has also committed substantial multi-billion naira contributions to the University of Lagos endowment and to several Yoruba traditional institutions. He has used his social media presence to comment publicly on Nigerian fiscal and energy policy on a recurring basis.
His 2024 memoir, Making it Big, co-written with Dele Momodu, was reviewed in BusinessDay, This Day, and the Premium Times, and remained in the Nigerian non-fiction bestseller lists through the second half of 2024.
Net worth and assets
Forbes Africa places Otedola’s 2026 net worth in the $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion range. The dominant component is his Geregu Power stake, which itself derives its market price from the listed NGX trading.
The Zenith Bank and FBN Holdings shareholdings are the second and third most material components. The Forte Oil divestment proceeds from 2019, recycled through the Geregu acquisition, have been the source of much of the post-2020 capital growth.
Real estate and lifestyle assets are substantial but represent a small fraction of the total. Full corporate history is on the Wikipedia entry for Femi Otedola.
As with all such figures, the Forbes Africa estimate is derived from disclosed corporate filings and market prices, not from verified personal accounts, and is not financial advice.
FAQ
Who is Femi Otedola?
Femi Otedola is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, the founder of Zenon Petroleum, the former chairman of Forte Oil, and the current chairman of Geregu Power. He is the son of Sir Michael Otedola, the former Governor of Lagos State in the Third Republic.
Is DJ Cuppy his daughter?
Yes. Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, who performs and produces music as DJ Cuppy, is one of Femi Otedola’s four children. The others are Tolani, Temi (an actor married to Mr Eazi), and Fewa (deceased).
What is Femi Otedola’s net worth in 2026?
Forbes Africa estimates it at $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion. The dominant component is his approximately 70 percent stake in Geregu Power. The estimate is derived from disclosed corporate filings and NGX market prices, not from verified personal accounts.
What is Geregu Power?
Geregu Power is a 435 megawatt gas-fired power plant in Ajaokuta, Kogi State, that Otedola acquired in the 2013 privatisation of the Nigerian power sector. It was listed on the Nigerian Exchange in October 2022, becoming the first independent power producer on the NGX.
Did Femi Otedola write a book?
Yes. His 2024 memoir Making it Big, co-written with the journalist Dele Momodu, was published in Lagos and reviewed in BusinessDay, This Day, and Premium Times. It traces his rise through the printing business, into commodities, and through Forte Oil and Geregu Power.
Sources
Wikipedia, Femi Otedola entry
Forbes Africa, billionaires list
Nigerian Exchange (NGX), Geregu Power and FBN Holdings filings
This Day, Premium Times, BusinessDay, coverage of Forte Oil divestment and Geregu listing
Otedola, Making it Big (2024), co-authored with Dele Momodu
Bloomberg, African corporate coverage
BBC Africa Business Report, Otedola profile features
Max Adeyemi is a Lagos-based writer covering Nigerian and African entertainment, sport, business, and culture. He has spent over a decade tracking the careers, controversies, and quiet achievements of the people who move the culture. He writes all profiles on Nolly.
