Business & Economy
Mike Adenuga – Biography And Net Worth Of Globacom And Conoil’s Founder
Chief Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jnr. GCON (known simply as Mike Adenuga) was born April 29th, 1953 to Oloye Micheal Agbolade Adenuga Snr. in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. His mother, Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga is from a royal family in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun state. A business mogul and billionaire, Adenuga is the chairman of Conoil and founder of Globacom Limited (GLO), a privately owned multinational telecommunications company with its headquarters in Lagos.
Mike Adenuga Age
Mike Adenuga is 69 years old.
Mike Adenuga Early Life
Adenuga’s father was a secondary school teacher. He grew up in Ibadan where he attended the Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan for his secondary education and proceeded to Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro for his Higher School Certificate (HSC). For his University education, he went to Oklahoma State University and Pace University, and he graduated with degrees in Business Administration. While in school he had to work as a taxi driver to make money for his upkeep and to fund his schooling.
Mike Adenuga Career
Adenuga began his career in the oil sector. His company called Consolidated Oil, was the first local company to struck oil in industrial quantity in 1991. This was in the shallow waters of Southwestern Ondo State after he had acquired a drilling license in 1990.
The business mogul stretched into telecommunications in 1999 when he was issued a conditional GSM license. The license was eventually revoked but he went on to acquire a second one at a government held auction in 2003. His telecommunications company Globacom grew quite fast and even became a contending competitor with the already existing giant MTN group. In 2008 his company started operations in Benin and even extended into Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, and is currently working on getting licenses to operate in other West African countries. He also tried to buy ‘Comium’ an Ivorian mobile telecom operator for $600 million.
He was apprehended by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of money laundering in 2009. He, however, went on a self-imposed exile to London and returned only after the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua regime granted him a pardon. After then, it was declared that he was been trailed for a combined debt of USD $140.5 million which his company Conoil owed to French oil giant Total among others.
Adenuga has many landed properties and assets worth millions of dollars. Mike Adenuga private jet, Falcons 7X costs $51m (N8.2billion) making him one of the richest Nigerian’s to own a private jet. His Net worth is estimated to be $4.5 billion.
He is the founder of The Mike Adenuga Foundation, an African philanthropic foundation. The main mission of the organisation is to help Nigeria and other African countries, where the Mike Adenuga Group of Companies are commercially active on a permanent basis, to achieve social and economic independence.
Mike Adenuga Personal Life
Adenuga is married to Titi Joyce Adenuga and together they have five children – Enola Adenuga, Bella Adenuga-Disu, Tunce Paddy Abolade, Micheal Babajide Adenuga and Adetutu Oyindamola Emilia. Adenuga met his wife, Titi at the defunct Devcom Merchant Bank which he owned at that time. According to sources, Titi was job hunting in the bank when she caught the eye of the businessman and one thing led to another and as they say, the rest is history.
Adenuga is a lover of sports and he has been involved in sponsoring sports events through his Globacom brand. He sponsored the African Handball tournament which took place in Benin Republic a few years ago. The company also sponsors the annual Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards which it has been doing since 2005. The Lagos International Half Marathon is also sponsored by Globacom.
The billionaire has a home in the prestigious Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos state which is said to be worth over $50 million. The house comprises 8 duplexes, a huge home office, a mosque, 2 big watch towers, a church and a huge multipurpose hall that sits 200 people. He also owns two Falcons 7X private jets which have a cumulative worth of $50m. The billionaire also has a Bombardier Challenger 604, which costs $30m.
Mike Adenuga Awards
- On August 15th, 2007 Adenuga was named African Entrepreneur of the Year at the maiden African Telecoms Awards (ATA).
- He was honoured with the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) in 2012.
- He also holds a Yoruba tribal chieftaincy as an Otunba of the Ijebu clan.
Mike Adenuga Net Worth
Mike Adenuga is estimated to have a net worth of about $4.5 billion