In his newly released memoir Otedola: An Autobiography, billionaire investor Femi Otedola offers an unflinching look at how fortune and failure can collide in the volatile world of oil, finance, and global markets. What emerges is a story not just of wealth lost, but of lessons learned in resilience, humility, and reinvention.
At the height of his success in 2008, Otedola’s company, Zenon Petroleum & Gas, was Nigeria’s energy trading powerhouse. Oil prices soared to $147 per barrel, and brimming with confidence, he placed a massive $500 million diesel order for import. Then the unthinkable happened: within weeks, crude collapsed to $37 per barrel, erasing billions from his balance sheet.
“The diesel I’d ordered when the price was astronomically higher was already on the high seas. Now, it was worth a fraction of my purchase price. I said to myself, I’m finished,” Otedola wrote.
The oil crash collided with a worsening Nigerian foreign exchange crisis. Loans taken at ₦117/$1 suddenly ballooned to ₦165/$1, costing him an extra ₦60 billion in value losses and ₦40 billion in interest payments. What began as a bold bet on oil spiraled into a financial nightmare.
Otedola’s troubles didn’t end there. As one of the largest shareholders in Nigeria’s banking sector—holding 8% of Zenith Bank (2.3 billion shares) and 6% of UBA—he had a golden opportunity to cash out when Zenith’s stock surged from ₦12 to ₦60 per share. That single move could have delivered a ₦191 billion profit. Instead, convinced the rally would continue, he held on. The 2008 global financial crisis crashed stock prices, wiping out the windfall.
“It remains one of my biggest regrets. If only I had followed my instincts,” he admitted.
By the end of the crisis, Otedola’s debts had swelled to ₦220 billion. His salvation came in the form of AMCON (Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria), which absorbed his toxic assets. The deal required surrendering prized estates across Nigeria, fuel depots, truck parks, filling stations, oil stock holdings, and even his private jet.
Yet Otedola frames this collapse as his greatest teacher. It stripped him of excess, sharpened his discipline, and forced him to rebuild from the ground up. Today, as Chairman of FBN Holdings Plc, he remains one of Nigeria’s most influential investors—proof that resilience, not wealth, defines legacy.
Otedola’s memoir Making it Big, released on August 18, 2025, captures this journey with raw honesty.
