Chief Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr (born 29 April 1953) is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, and the fifth richest person in Africa according to Forbes. His company Globacom is Nigeria's second-largest telecom operator and also has a presence in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. He owns stakes in the Equitorial Trust Bank and the oil exploration firm Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil Company). ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' estimated his net worth at $6.7 billion as of May 2024.

Early life

His father,

Oloye ''Oba'' ('King' in the Yoruba language, Yoruba language) is a pre-nominal honorific for kings in Yorubaland. Traditional rulers with dynasties of Yoruba origin, across the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria, and Togo, frequently make use of it. ...

Michael Agbolade Adenuga Sr, was a schoolteacher while his mother,

Omoba ''Oba'' ('King' in the Yoruba language, Yoruba language) is a pre-nominal honorific for kings in Yorubaland. Traditional rulers with dynasties of Yoruba origin, across the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria, and Togo, frequently make use of it. ...

Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga (née Onashile, of Okesopin,

Ijebu Igbo Ijebu Igbo ( Yoruba: Ìjẹ̀bú-Igbó) is a town in Ogun State, Nigeria. It is the headquarters of Ijebu North Local Government Authority of Ogun State, Nigeria. It is approximately a 15-minute drive north of Ijebu Ode. History The term ...

), was a businesswoman of

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

Ijebu descent. He is Yoruba. Adenuga received his secondary school education at Ibadan Grammar School,

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

Oyo State Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...

, Nigeria and Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro, for his Higher School Certificate (HSC). He worked as a taxi driver to help fund his university education. He graduated from

Northwestern Oklahoma State University Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU) is a public university in Alva, Oklahoma, with satellite campuses in Enid and Woodward. It offers both bachelor's and master's degrees. History In 1897, a normal school, or school for teachers, wa ...

and

Pace University Pace University is a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, United States. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, with degrees in

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

Career

Adenuga made his first million in 1979, at age 26, selling

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

and distributing

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

s. In 1990, he received a drilling license and in 1991, his Consolidated Oil struck oil in the shallow waters of Southwestern

Ondo State Ondo () is a States of Nigeria, state in Points of the compass, southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State (Nigeria), Western State. Ondo borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast fo ...

, making him the first indigenous oil company to do so in commercial quantity. He was issued a conditional

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

license in 1999. After it was revoked, he received a second one when the government held another auction in 2003. He was named ''African Entrepreneur of The Year'' at the first African Telecoms Awards (ATA) in August 2007. In May 2015, Adenuga made a takeover bid to purchase Ivorian mobile telecom's operator Comium Côte d'Ivoire for $600 million.

Honours

In 2012, he was made Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger by the government of Nigeria. He holds a Yoruba

tribal chief A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...

taincy as the "Otunba Apesin" of the Ijebu clan. In 2018, he was decorated with the insignia of a

Commander of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

by President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

of France. Adenuga was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adenuga, Mike 1953 births Living people Yoruba businesspeople Yoruba royalty Businesspeople from Ibadan Nigerian businesspeople in the oil industry Businesspeople in telecommunications Nigerian billionaires Northwestern Oklahoma State University alumni Pace University alumni Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Recipients of Nigerian presidential pardons 20th-century Nigerian businesspeople 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople Nigerian royalty Grand Commanders of the Order of the Niger Ibadan Grammar School alumni Nigerian investors Taxi drivers Nigerian chairpersons of corporations

Early life

Career

Honours

See also

References

External links