Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has revealed how banks courted him with “bewitching ladies” to secure his deposits but turned hostile and sent intimidating men when his fortune declined in 2009.
Otedola shared this in his forthcoming memoir, “Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business”
In excerpts seen by OBSERVERS TIMES, the oil magnate detailed how the global crude oil price crash and the naira’s devaluation plunged his business into massive debt.
“All told, I lost more than US$480 million to the plunge in oil prices, US$258 million through the devaluation of the naira, US$320 million because of accruing interest, and another US$160 million when the stocks crashed,” he wrote.
“It was devastating, like a terrible nightmare, but a nightmare would have been better: day would break, and I would wake up. There was no waking up from this.
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, and 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.”
