The billionaire magnate may be likened to a diviner of fortune or a commander of enterprise who does the grunt work too. He creates what others consume. Thus he has the same fundamental psychology as the artist or inventor. He sets himself to certain tasks and the work absorbs, becoming an expression of his depth and persona.
He understands that there is no better ballast for keeping the mind steady on its keel, and saving it from the risk of lethargy, than business. Thus he lives to the growth and perfection of enterprise as reflected in the exploits of billionaires cum entrepreneurial giants, like Globacom Chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga, BUA chairman, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote among others.
These men are builders and creators, merchants of industry, and a mature economic system.
In their boisterous business circuit, industry is an art form. And they are the artists, who paint beautifully on canvas with their feats or write wonderful poetry by their exploits.
Interestingly, however, Forbes has released its comprehensive list of world’s billionaires for 2023. The list, which came out Tuesday, April 4th, with 2460 individual billionaires globally, has a couple of surprises. This is more so since the last year has been full of falling stocks, wounded unicorns and rising interest rates which translated into a down year for many of the world’s richest people. The 25 richest people in the world are worth a collective $2.1 trillion, down a combined $200 billion from $2.3 trillion in 2022.
Luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault‘s net worth surged by $53 billion to $211billion dollars since last year, a bigger gain than anyone on the planet, to climb to the number one spot for the first time ever on the rise of share in his company, LVMH. Former world’s richest man, Elon Musk, slipped to second position after his worth reduced by $39billion due to his purchase of social messaging g app, Twitter.
One of the surprises however is the rise of BUA Group chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu. From 7.6Billion Dollars a few months ago, the Billionaire businessman and philanthropist’s rating in Forbes billionaires list has again shot up towering many to become the 249th richest person in the world and closing in on overtaking the third richest man in Africa, Nicky Oppenheimer who stands at 8.4billion Dollars. Rabiu’s latest worth is put at 8.2billion dollars. From 1.6billion Dollars in 2019, Forbes recorded that by 2022 his net worth was at 6.9billion dollars and from there has jumped to 8.2billion Dollars in April 2023.
62-year old Abdul Samad Rabiu is essentially into cement and sugar as well as real estate and is building sub-saharan Africa’s second largest refinery and petrochemicals plant in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria.
Many have wondered how he came to amass such vast affluence and an enduring sway at the pinnacle of the business world; it’s mostly a function of perception. An ingenious ability to discern the labyrinthine tracts of commerce, and his persistence in asking ‘why?’
Little wonder, he has steadily evolved as Africa’s biggest philanthropist with his BUA Foundation and the phenomenal Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative.
Meanwhile Aliko Dangote has retained his position as the wealthiest person of African descent in th e world. After climbing to 14billion Dollars in 2022, his wealth is estimated to be around 14.2billion Dollars as at the reports released on Tuesday April 4, 2023.
He is presently the 125th richest man in the world and he is easily the largest cement producer in Africa. He also has his hands in other businesses including pastries, sugar and other areas of manufacturing.
And Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jnr) too. Through grit and hard work, he built his octopoidal conglomerate that employs thousands of Nigerians nay Africans in profitable, futuristic endeavours. A smart businessman extraordinaire, Adenuga is a bold disrupter of the telecoms model. And Nigeria and Africa are the better for it. He enables telecoms in a way no other magnate has done. His forays into the business sector are richly layered and iconic. Inspiring, moving, pleasurable, and transcendent, Adenuga ultimately does create a composite image of endeavour and an ideal ethic of manhood. His style is driven, prudent, empathic, and boundless.
These are the only three Nigerians that made the list.
One other surprise name on the list however is 90-yr old Nathan Kirsh from tiny African Country of Swaziland. He is said to worth 6.5billion dollars, thus becoming the 6th ranked African billionaire. He is believed to be into real estate retail and fashion.
It was the first time he would be featured as an African billionaire.
Methodology: According to Forbes, their ‘World’s Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 10, 2023. Some people become richer or poorer within days of publication. We list individuals rather than multigenerational families who share fortunes, though we include wealth belonging to a billionaire’s spouse and children if that person is the founder of the fortune’.
‘For non-founders, we previously listed couples and family members together in certain cases; this year, we separated these shared fortunes into individual list members, marked “split family fortune.” For Russian billionaires, fortunes were calculated using ownership structures from February 2022, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and before many made transfers of assets to managers, friends and others in an effort to protect their holdings from sanctions’.
‘We value a variety of assets, including private companies, real estate, art and more. We don’t pretend to know each billionaire’s private balance sheet (though some provide it). When documentation isn’t supplied or available, we discount fortunes’.
