Billionaire entrepreneur Femi Otedola has opened up about the dizzying highs and crushing lows of his business empire, revealing how banks once deployed attractive women to lure him with juicy offers, only to later send intimidating debt collectors when fortunes reversed.
The oil magnate made the disclosure in his upcoming memoir, Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business, published by FO Books and scheduled for release on August 18, 2025.
In excerpts obtained by TheCable, Otedola paints a vivid picture of Nigeria’s high-stakes business environment, where financial institutions spare no tactic to secure big-ticket clients.
“One moment, I was the darling of the banks, who did everything in the world to court me, do business with me, give me loans, take deposits from me,” Otedola wrote.
“They would send bewitching ladies to make their offers more convincing. And then, in the blink of an eye, I was waking up to the sight of hefty, barrel-chested men standing menacingly in front of my gate, waiting for the moment I’d step out of my compound.”
The memoir details the seismic shocks that shook Otedola’s empire: a perfect storm of collapsing crude oil prices, currency devaluation, and stock market crashes that wiped out a staggering portion of his wealth.
“All told, I lost more than $480 million to the plunge in oil prices, $258 million through the devaluation of the naira, $320 million because of accruing interest, and another $160 million when the stocks crashed,” he revealed.
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Otedola rose to prominence through Zenon Petroleum, which started by selling diesel in drums and grew into a market leader before his acquisition of African Petroleum, later rebranded as Forte Oil Plc. At its peak, Forte Oil was a star performer on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, cementing Otedola’s status as one of Africa’s most influential businessmen.
However, a pivotal decision in 2008 proved catastrophic. Otedola placed a massive diesel order when crude traded at $147 per barrel — only for the shipment to arrive after prices plunged to $40, leaving him saddled with crippling losses.
Matters worsened in 2009 as the naira depreciated from ₦120 to ₦167 per dollar, amplifying his dollar-denominated debt burden amid a collapsing diesel market.
The memoir, industry watchers say, is not just a personal story but a cautionary tale about the volatility of emerging markets, the fragility of business success, and the ruthless nature of financial relationships.
“The book is my truth,” Otedola writes, “a story of resilience, survival, and the hard-earned lessons every entrepreneur must learn before it’s too late.”