Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr (born 29 April 1953) is a Nigerian

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businessman, and the fourth richest person in Africa. His company

Globacom Globacom Limited, commonly known as Glo (Global communication), is a Nigerian multinational telecommunications company founded on 29 August 2003 by Mike Adenuga. As of June 2018, the company employs more than 3,500 people worldwide. Overview ...

is Nigeria's second-largest telecom operator and also has a presence in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

. He owns stakes in the

Equitorial Trust Bank Equitorial Trust Bank Plc. (ETB), commonly referred to as Equitorial Bank, was a commercial bank in Nigeria. It was one of the twenty-six (26) commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country's banking regulator, in earl ...

and the oil exploration firm

Conoil Conoil Plc is a Nigerian petroleum marketing company involved in the sale of regulated gasoline and kerosene, diesel, aviation fuel and low pour fuel. Other business activities of the firm include production and marketing of lubricants under the b ...

(formerly Consolidated Oil Company). ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' estimated his net worth at $6.2 billion as of May 2021.

Early life and education

His father, the

Oloye Oba means ″ruler″ in the Yoruba and Bini languages of West Africa. Kings in Yorubaland, a region which is in the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria and Togo, make use of it as a pre-nominal honorific. Examples of Yoruba bearers include Oba ...

Michael Agbolade Adenuga Sr, was a school teacher while his mother,

Omoba Oba means ″ruler″ in the Yoruba language, Yoruba and Bini languages of West Africa. Kings in Yorubaland, a region which is in the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria and Togo, make use of it as a pre-nominal honorific. Examples of Yoruba beare ...

Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga (née Onashile, of Okesopin,

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

), 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 Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

Ijebu descent. Adenuga received his secondary school education at

Ibadan Grammar School Ibadan Grammar School is a secondary school in the city of Ibadan, Nigeria. It is currently located at Molete area, close to St. David grammar school. History Established in March 31st 1913. It is among the notable oldest secondary school in Ibada ...

, Ibadan, Oyo State, 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, Oklahoma, Enid and Woodward, Oklahoma, Woodward. It offers both bachelor's and master's degrees. History In 1897, a normal ...

and

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pac ...

, New York, with degrees in Business Administration.

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 divided 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 for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

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 State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to t ...

, 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 standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

licence 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 Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit: the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. Award The two highest honou ...

by the government of Nigeria. He holds a Yoruba

tribal chief A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as ...

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 (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

by President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

of France. Adenuga was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by

New African ''New African'' is an English-language monthly news magazine based in London. Published since 1966, it is read by many people across the African continent and the African diaspora. It claims to be the oldest pan-African monthly in English, as well ...

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 Nigerian taxi drivers Nigerian chairpersons of corporations

Early life and education

Career

Honours

See also

References

External links