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12166304058?profile=originalNigerian business mogul, Mike Adenuga the founder of 12166303867?profile=originalGlobacom- the mobile, fixed, broadband, and international gateway carrier, has joined Forbes Magazine’ billionaires list with a net worth of $2 billion. He joins his countryman, Aliko Dangote, a regular feature in the list, whose furtune surged 557 per cent to $13.8 billion, up from $2.1 billion during the period.

On top of the billionaires' list is Mexico's Carlos Slim Helú, who added $20.5 billion to his fortune, more than any other billionaire. The telecom mogul, who gets 62 per cent of his fortune from America is now worth $74 billion and has pulled far ahead of his two closest rivals.

Photos: Left New "kid on the block Otunba Adenuga,right:Aliko Dangote aka Chemical ALi Richest Person in Africa and getting richer by the day even richer than facebook founder !

However, the Microsoft Guru, Bill Gates came second and the investor magnate Warren Buffett came third. Both added a more modest $3 billion to their piles and are now worth $56 billion and $50 billion, respectively.

Gates, who now gets 70 per cent of his fortune from investments outside of Microsoft has actually been investing in the Mexican stock market and has holdings in Mexican Coke bottler Femsa and Grupo Televisa.

Adenuga, owner of several high profile firms which include Conoil Producing, Conoil Plc, Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB), launched Globacom services in Nigeria in 2005, in the Republic of Benin in 2008 and has licences to operate in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire (with Togo and Senegal next).

He took a big gamble laying a $1 billion undersea fibre optic cable, Glo-1, to link Africa with the rest of the world. (partnered with Alcatel-Lucent). The connection will help lower prices for customers as well as help Adenuga expand more quickly.

As for Dangote, who is now the number 51 in the Forbe's list from 334 position in 2008; a step ahead of the Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg,  who made the list for the first time with a networth of $13.5 billion at the 52nd position.

Dangote fortune surged during the period, after he consolidated all his public and private cement holdings throughout Africa into the continent’s largest cement manufacturer and took it public on the Nigerian stock exchange in October.

Dangote Cement now has a market value in excess of $13 billion, and accounts for a quarter of the Nigeria Stock Exchange’s total market capitalization.

The dearth of native suppliers to meet increasing cement demand is driving the stock price. Dangote projects demand at 72 million metric tons and growing because of the drive to build infrastructure in Nigeria, Africa’s most populated nation, as well as other countries; current supply is 67 million metric tons, a shortfall of 5 million metric tons.

For perspective, he is now richer than longtime white South African billionaires Nicky Oppenheimer of Debeers and Johann Rupert of luxury goods group Richemont, which owns Cartier, Dunhill and other premium brands.

For now he’s gearing up to introduce Dangote Cement to foreign investors. Companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange are required to have a minimum free float of 25 per cent, Dangote initially listed 5 per cent of shares. According to analysts at Thaddeus Investment Advisors, the Nigerian market is too shallow for a stock of Dangote Cement’s size to be listed on the exchange; this is why the balance of the free float will be listed outside of Nigeria. Dangote, who recently bought himself a $45 million Bombardier aircraft for his birthday, has been shuttling back and forth to London for months, in anticipation of a public offering in London later this year.

He is certainly one to watch. After a lucrative career in trading, Dangote ventured into manufacturing pasta, salt, sugar, and flour in 1997, in part encouraged by the policies of former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Eventually Dangote went from importing and rebagging cement to production as well; he was awarded the government’s then state-owned cement business and began building his own plant in 2003. Cement revenue which has been primarily based on imports grew 15% a year between 2001 and 2005; once the Obajana plant was fully operational in 2007, revenue quadrupled; in fiscal 2009 revenue was $1.2 billion.

Dangote Cement now owns three cement plants and two terminals in Nigeria where he both produces and still imports cement. The Obajana plant is Dangote’s largest to date and controls the largest market share in Nigeria; Dangote terminals at Lagos and Port-Harcourt have the highest import quotas of all local companies. With additional capacity coming on line this year, total capacity is expected to reach 26 million metric tons by the end of 2011. (also helping boost profits: Dangote’s newly combined entity is tax exempt through 2017.)

But he won’t stop there. Dangote has started building investments in cement plants and terminals across Africa including Senegal, Zambia, Tanzania, Congo, Ethiopia, Cameroun, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Ghana.

Meanwhile, Egypt led other African countries in the Forbes billionaires' list, with eight billionaires on the list, followed by South Africa with four billionaires,  while Nigeria came third with two billionaires. Chief Mike Adenuga  joined Dangote on the Forbes’ list rated 597 in the world, and worth $2 billion. Mr Femi Otedola who was previously with Dangote in the list is no longer there.

According to Forbes Magazine, this 25th year of tracking global wealth was one to remember. The 2011 Billionaires List breaks two records: total number of listees (1,210) and combined wealth ($4.5 trillion). This horde surpasses the gross domestic product of Germany, one of only six nations to have fewer billionaires this year.

Whereas, BRICs led the way: Brazil, Russia, India and China produced 108 of the 214 new names. These four nations are home to one in four members, up from one in 10 five years ago. Before this year only, the United States (U.S.) had ever produced more than 100 billionaires. China now has 115 and Russia 101.

 

Rank   Name  Net Worth      Age     Source of Money      Country of Citizenship

1          Carlos Slim Helu & family   $74 B  71      telecom         Mexico

2          Bill Gates     $56 B  55      Microsoft       United States

3          Warren Buffett       $50 B  80      Berkshire Hathaway  United States

4          Bernard Arnault      $41 B  62      LVMH  France

5          Larry Ellison $39.5 B         66      Oracle United States

6          Lakshmi Mittal        $31.1 B         60      Steel   India

7          Amancio Ortega      $31 B  74      Zara   Spain

8          Eike Batista $30 B  54      mining, oil      Brazil

9          Mukesh Ambani      $27 B  53      petrochemicals, oil & gas     India

10        Christy Walton & family     $26.5 B         56      Walmart        United States

11        Li Ka-shing   $26 B  82      Diversified     Hong Kong

12        Karl Albrecht          $25.5 B         91      Aldi     Germany

13        Stefan Persson       $24.5 B         63      H&M    Sweden

14        Vladimir Lisin          $24 B  54      Steel   Russia

15        Liliane Bettencourt $23.5 B         88      L'Oreal France

16        Sheldon Adelson     $23.3 B         77      casinos          United States

17        David Thomson & family    $23 B  53      media  Canada

18        Charles Koch          $22 B  75      Diversified     United States

18        David Koch $22 B  70      Diversified     United States

20        Jim Walton   $21.3 B         63      Walmart        United States

21        Alice Walton           $21.2 B         61      Walmart        United States

22        S. Robson Walton   $21 B  67      Walmart        United States

23        Kwok Thomas & Raymond & family         $20 B  N/A     real estate     Hong Kong

24        Larry Page   $19.8 B         37      Google United States

24        Sergey Brin $19.8 B         37      Google United States

26        Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud    $19.6 B         56      Investments   Saudi Arabia

27        Iris Fontbona & family       $19.2 B         N/A     Mining Chile

28        Lee Shau Kee         $19 B  83      real estate     Hong Kong

29        Alexei Mordashov    $18.5 B         45      Steel   Russia

30        Michael Bloomberg $18.1 B         69      Bloomberg     United States

30        Jeff Bezos   $18.1 B         47      Amazon         United States

32        Michele Ferrero & family    $18 B  84      chocolates     Italy

32        Mikhail Prokhorov   $18 B  45      Investments   Russia

34        Vladimir Potanin      $17.8 B         50      nonferrous metals    Russia

35        Alisher Usmanov     $17.7 B         57      steel, telecom, stocks         Russia

36        Azim Premji           $16.8 B         65      Software       India

36        Oleg Deripaska       $16.8 B         43      aluminum      Russia

38        Michael Otto & family        $16.6 B         67      Retail  Germany

39       German Larrea Mota Velasco & family     $16 B  57      Mining Mexico

39        Rinat Akhmetov      $16 B  44      steel, coal mines       Ukraine

39        John Paulson          $16 B  55      hedge funds   United States

42        Shashi & Ravi Ruia $15.8 B         67      Diversified     India

43        Mikhail Fridman      $15.1 B         46      oil, banking, telecom Russia

44        Michael Dell $14.6 B         46      Dell     United States

44        Susanne Klatten     $14.6 B         48      BMW, pharmaceuticals        Germany

46        Steve Ballmer        $14.5 B         54      Microsoft       United States

46        George Soros         $14.5 B         80      hedge funds   United States

48        Berthold & Theo Jr. Albrecht & family      $14.4 B         N/A     Aldi, Trader Joes       Germany

49        Birgit Rausing & family      $14 B  87      packaging      Sweden

50        Vagit Alekperov      $13.9 B         60      Lukoil  Russia

51        Aliko Dangote         $13.8 B         53      sugar, flour, cement Nigeria

52        Mark Zuckerberg    $13.5 B         26      Facebook       United States

53        Anne Cox Chambers         $13.4 B         91      Cox Enterprises        United States

53        Roman Abramovich           $13.4 B         44      steel, investments     Russia

55        Jorge Paulo Lemann          $13.3 B         71      beer    Brazil

56        Savitri Jindal & family        $13.2 B         60      Steel   India

57        Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor & family      $13 B  59      real estate     United Kingdom

57        Paul Allen     $13 B  58      Microsoft, investments        United States

57        Viktor Vekselberg   $13 B  53      oil, metals      Russia

60        Phil Knight    $12.7 B         73      Nike    United States

61        Robert Kuok          $12.5 B         87      Diversified     Malaysia

61        Carl Icahn    $12.5 B         75      leveraged buyouts    United States

63        Mohammed Al Amoudi       $12.3 B         66      oil       Saudi Arabia

64        Donald Bren           $12 B  78      real estate     United States

64        Ron Perelman        $12 B  68      leveraged buyouts    United States

66        Alberto Bailleres Gonzalez & family         $11.9 B         79      Mining Mexico

67        Francois Pinault & family    $11.5 B         74      Retail  France

68        Joseph Safra         $11.4 B         72      banking         Brazil

69        Abigail Johnson       $11.3 B         49      Fidelity United States

70        Viktor Rashnikov     $11.2 B         62      Steel   Russia

71        Leonardo Del Vecchio        $11 B  75      eyewear        Italy

72        John Fredriksen      $10.7 B         66      shipping         Cyprus

72        Stefan Quandt        $10.7 B         44      BMW   Germany

74        James Simons        $10.6 B         72      hedge funds   United States

75        Luis Carlos Sarmiento        $10.5 B         78      banking         Colombia

75        Horst Paulmann & family    $10.5 B         76      Retail  Chile

77        Nasser Al-Kharafi & family $10.4 B         67      construction   Kuwait

77        Eliodoro, Bernardo & Patricia Matte         $10.4 B         N/A     paper  Chile

79        Sammy Ofer & family       $10.3 B         89      shipping         Israel

80        Len Blavatnik         $10.1 B         53      Access Industries      United States

81        Hans Rausing         $10 B  84      packaging      Sweden

81        Ernesto Bertarelli & family $10 B  45      biotech          Switzerland

81        John Mars    $10 B  74      candy, pet food        United States

81        Jacqueline Mars      $10 B  71      candy, pet food        United States

81        Forrest Mars          $10 B  79      candy, pet food        United States

81        Klaus-Michael Kuhne         $10 B  73      shipping         Germany

81        Gautam Adani        $10 B  48      commodities, infrastructure  India

88        Iskander Makhmudov        $9.9 B 47      mining, metals, machinery   Russia

89        Johanna Quandt      $9.8 B 84      BMW   Germany

89        George Kaiser        $9.8 B 68      oil & gas, banking     United States

89        Maria-Elisabeth & Georg Schaeffler         $9.8 B N/A     ball bearings   Germany

92        German Khan         $9.6 B 49      oil, banking, telecom Russia

93        Ananda Krishnan     $9.5 B 72      telecom         Malaysia

93        Dmitry Rybolovlev   $9.5 B 44      fertilizer        Russia

95        Robin Li       $9.4 B 42      Internet         China

96        Serge Dassault & family    $9.3 B 85      aviation         France

97        Kumar Birla  $9.2 B 43      commodities   India

97        Petr Kellner $9.2 B 46      insurance       Czech Republic

99        Leonid Mikhelson     $9.1 B 55      Natural gas    Russia

100       Cheng  Yu- tung     $9 B    85      real estate     Hong Kong

 

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Dangote nailed by Yar'aduas daughter

Happiness delayed is happiness denied, and in whatever way the proposal may have originated, whether resulting from "the course of true love" or political calculations, Aisha Yar’adua, the third daughter of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua left the beleaguered billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote facing disappointment after turning down his offer of marriage. But as in everything else about Nigeria’s unscrupulous richest man, now tottering on the brink of bankruptcy, Dangote will not take no for an answer! It was not immediately clear whether the President influenced his daughter’s decision but observers have been quick to point out that, relations between the two men have been anything but cordial. Yar’adua was said to be still smarting from the snub Dangote gave him in the countdown to the 2007 elections. It is public knowledge that unlike the Obasanjo years during which Dangote had unbridled access to the corridors of power, Yar’adua has, upon taken power, tried to be his own man and attempts by Dangote to warm up to Yar’adua have been met with cold shoulders. The reasons for the schism between the two men are still not clear, but keen observers are quick to recall that in the build-up to the 2007 elections, Dangote used his financial muscle to arm-twist and shut out Yar’adua’s chosen representative in the election strategy planning committee. By sidelining the President’s eyes and ears in the committee, Dangote wanted to keep Yar’adua in the loop over goings-on in the campaign. Yar’adua didn’t take this kindly. If Aliko Dangote was a person of good breeding and right feeling, he will need no caution to remember that, once admitted into the heart of the first family as the suitor of a daughter, he will receive one of the greatest possible favors that can be conferred on him, whatever may be his own superiority of social rank or worldly circumstances; and that, therefore, his conduct should be marked by a delicate respect towards the parents of his lady-love. By this means he will propitiate them in his favor, and induce them to regard him as worthy of the uninsured risk Yar’adua will be taking to entrust his daughter to a moral vampire. Tagged third-point agenda, Aisha`s nuptial race will certainly be an exciting one to watch as there are indications that the list of contenders is getting longer than the list of pretenders. The Yar’adua girls in recent times have simply become the hottest merchandise for most of Nigeria’s opportunistic, treasure-hunting gold-diggers and some wealthy but failed husbands. Little surprise therefore that Aisha Yar`adua, the physically attractive 22-year old President’s daughter has become a major acquisition challenge for Aliko Dangote. With everything else going down but his libido, Aliko Dangote, whose tendency to flirtation may have given rise to a false hope of Aisha favoring his suit, was emotionally devastated when he was made to understand that within the President’s domestic circles, he was an unwelcome visitor whose probationary suitor status has run its full course. A source close to the Forbes-listed billionaire told Huhuonline.com that Aisha, who is an intimate friend of Aliko’s daughter Halima, sealed Aliko’s fate when she advised him to consult the rules of etiquette saying: "Halima will not forgive me if I marry you." "Aisha just disposed Dangote like pliable wax with a lightness of demeanor that is humiliatingly scandalous," the source commented, adding that: “when a lady rejects the proposal of a man like Dangote, her behavior should be characterized by the most delicate feeling towards someone who, in offering his hand, has proved his desire to confer upon her, the greatest honor it is in his power to offer. " No woman of proper feeling would regard her rejection of an offer of marriage from a wealthy man like Dangote as a matter of triumph: her feeling on such an occasion should be one of regretful sympathy with him for the pain she is unavoidably compelled to inflict. At all events, no lady should ever treat a man who has so honored her with the slightest disrespect or frivolous disregard, nor ever unfeelingly parade a more favored suitor before one whom she has refused. But close sources told Huhuonline.com that Aisha had no love for Aliko Dangote to even at least evince a tender regard for his feelings; and, considered Dangote’s clandestine marriage proposal as presumptuous and intrusive. No right-minded man would desire to persist in a pursuit when he well knows that the object of his admiration has already disposed of her heart. Aisha’s heart, sources told huhuonline.com, had stood the test of faithfulness and the trial of time with her boyfriend cum oil mogul, Abdurrahman Musa Bashir, whom she introduced as her fiancé to a Huhuonline.com source. Enter Aliko Dangote who saw the prospects of being the President’s in-law as the last line of defence to salvage what remains of his crumbling financial empire. Working behind the scenes, Dangote hatched a dastardly plot to destabilize Bashir by arm-twisting the Managing Director of the bank which financed Bashir’s operations to pull the rug under Bashir’s feet and throw his oil business in jeopardy. The distraction was enough for Bashir to re-focus all his energies in rescuing his oil business from collapse, leaving the door open for Dangote. But Dangote forgot to learn that a good salesman does not sell his goods by knocking off his competitors; he sells his goods on their merit. With Bashir virtually out of the race, Dangote mistakenly thought that he had made the sale but not closed the deal. Don’t expect much and you won’t be disappointed. Emerging feelers suggest that there are subterranean moves by a certain Governor, with very close ties to the Yar`adua, family, to join the race to marry the President’s daughter. The desperate quest for power amongst Nigeria`s political elite has made politicians, of northern extraction to fall over themselves in the bid to marry Aisha who has literally become an acquisition challenge and “coveted trophy” for very ambitious vultures seeking political patronage. It should be recalled that Yar’adua`s first daughter married the Governor of Kebbi state. Since the marriage, life has not been the same for Kebbi state governor and his cronies, as things drastically became better. It was then speculated before the bubble burst, that the incumbent minister of FCT, got his plump job because of the union. Also, in May 2007, Adamu Aliero, anointed, the present governor of Kebbi state to succeed him. As an act of appreciation, the godfather was elevated to the FCT ministry, after Zainab’s marriage. Impeccable sources confided in huhuonline.com that Adamu Aliero was made minister by Zainab. In the spirit of keeping it in the family, it was Adamu Aliero who told Nigerians that President Umaru Yar`adua will seek a second term in office. That was before the squabble between Aliero and the incumbent Governor of Kebbi state. Recently, the governor of Bauchi state, Isah Yaguda also married Nafisa, Yar’dua`s second daughter, who has since become a major player in Nigeria’s power circles, though he belonged to the opposition party, he has since crossed to the PDP. However, sources revealed that his young wife Nafisa, like her mom, Turai has keen interest in being first lady. Though she is wife number four, she is clearly a dominating factor in the Yuguda household. The results of the clandestine marriage proposal proved the step to have been ill-judged, imprudent, and highly injurious to the reputation of one party, and would have, in the long run detrimental to the happiness of both. As the race for Yar’adua’s third daughter, Aisha intensifies, who becomes the eventual ‘Mr. Right’, may not be certain but what is sure is that the polygamist-billionaire, Aliko Dangote is out of the race. This perhaps, may give him enough time to squarely face his losing battle against Chief Femi Otedola.
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