Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has revealed how banks that once courted him turned hostile after his business collapsed in 2009.
In his upcoming memoir, “Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business,” set for release on August 18, 2025, Otedola recounted how a diesel shipment he ordered at $147 per barrel arrived after prices crashed to $40, coupled with a naira devaluation, plunging him into massive financial losses.
“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,” Otedola wrote.
He said the crisis made banks that once courted him with offers and incentives turn into aggressive creditors.
“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. They would send bewitching ladies to make their offers more convincing, and now 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.”
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