Nigerian energy tycoon, Mr Femi Otedola, has returned to the Forbes world richest list in 2015, after falling off in 2009.
Otedola, who returned to the Forbes Africa richest list in November, joined Africa’s richest, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Folorunsho Alakija and Abdulsamad Rabiu to make the five Africans featured in the list of 1,826 individuals who made the list in 2015, up from 1,645 in 2014.
According to Forbes publication, Bill Gates remains the richest man in the world with a net worth of $79.2 billion, followed by Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu at No. 2 ($77.1 billion) and the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett ($72.7 billion), at No. 3.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly now the 16th richest man in the world, while the youngest billionaire in the world is 24-year-old Evan Spiegel, the co-founder of photo-messaging app, Snapchat.
A record 1,826 individuals made the list in 2015, up from 1,645 in 2014, with an average net worth of $3.86 billion, down a smidgen ($60 million) from last year. All told, the lucky few have a total net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion last year.
Forbes further revealed that this year’s biggest loser in dollar terms is Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, whose fortune dropped to $14.7 billion from $25 billion last year, propelled downward by a weaker Nigerian currency and shrinking demand for cement, his largest asset. He, however, still managed to retain his title of Africa’s richest man, posting a healthy $14 .7 billion (down from $25 Billion last year) and coming in at the 67th place on the list.
The number of billionaires under 40 shows the rise of the entrepreneurial spirit amongst the youths and globally in
Mike Adenuga, the chairman of Globacom and Conoil exploration, was ranked 393rd on the list with a fortune estimated at $4.2 billion, placing him as Nigeria’s second richest.
Folorunsho Alakija, who was at a time regarded as the richest black woman in the globe due to her interests in oil came in at 949th place with an estimated fortune of $1.9 billion. She is just one of two women billionaires in Africa.
The chairman of Forte Oil, Femi Otedola, came in as Nigeria’s fourth richest and was ranked 1,741 on the Forbes list with an estimated fortune of $1 billion, a position he shares with the chairman of the BUA Group, Abdulsmad Rabiu with an estimated net-worth of the same value ($1billion).
A total of 138 people dropped off the list this year, including the chairman of Heirs Holding, Tony Elumelu, and former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzo Kalu, both of whom were featured on the list last year but unfortunately did not make the cut this year.