Forbes Real-time: Billionaire Mike Adenuga Breaks Record

It is not easy being a modest magnate in Nigeria, particularly when you are Dr. Mike Adenuga (GCON). Every hour requires an adroit flip over through stamina rings for the self-effacing billionaire. Adenuga, Chairman of Globacom, a telecommunications firm with multinational reach, however, eases through the processes, like an ageless hunter going for the proverbial kill, often with gratifying upshots. Frequently likened to a champion and sometimes, a business genius, Adenuga effortlessly depicts the image of a modern day General of Commerce.

Very few men can knead the tripartite traits of genius, modesty and character into that moral and humane centaur that remains unattainable to generations of tycoons and billionaires like Mike Adenuga. Adenuga achieves this with unequalled grace and élan. He emerges as the perfect symbol of business excellence; he is seen at home and abroad as a historic figure, the personification of a business calculus within Nigeria and the African continent – a significant emblem of entrepreneurial excellence and normalisation, both within the country and in its dealings with the rest of the world. Interestingly, the Conoil chairman moved from $10.5 billion to $10.7 billion, and climbed to number 103, from 109 on Forbes Real Time ranking last week. The rise of the telecoms, oil and property giant has been so remarkable that many observers are astounded – from $3.1 billion, he gained $7.7 billion in about six weeks.