Femi Otedola Reveals How He Lost $898m To Naira Devaluation, Oil, Stock Market Slumps

Famous Nigerian billionaire businessman, has Femi Otedola, has made public how he was affected by misfortune in 2009, reports Business Today NG.
Otedola, now chairman of Geregu Power Plc and First Bank Nigeria Holdings, disclosed that  the sharp drop in oil prices, combined with a naira devaluation from N120 to N167 per dollar in 2009, led him to lose $480 million and $258 million, respectively.
According to the Epe born Lagos businessman, he also lost another $160 million when the stocks crashed adding that the total figure of financial loss amounted to $898 million
In excerpts from his upcoming memoir titled ‘Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business’, scheduled for release on August 18, 2025, the billionare businessman narrated that trouble began after his former company, Forte Oil Plc, ordered a diesel shipment in 2008, when crude oil was priced at $147 per barrel, and it was delivered after the market had crashed to $40 per barrel.
“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,” Otedola narrated.