Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote set a new world record on Thursday, October 17, 2024, when he became the 64th wealthiest man globally.
Dangoteâs meteoric jump from 161 most prosperous in the world to 64th on the global billionaire index took many by surprise after the Kano-born billionaire earned a whopping N24 trillion ($15 billion) overnight.
That move propelled him to become not only Africaâs richest man again but the black raceâs wealthiest individual
A recent report by TimesNow.com.ng showed that Dangote was second on the list of richest black people behind Americaâs David Seward, with less than $12 billion.
Thanks to his mega refinery, the Nigerian billionaire jumped 100 places on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
The 67-year-old billionaire lost most of his wealth when the Nigerian government devalued the local currency, highlighting the struggle of Nigerian businesses and entrepreneurs.
Dangote confirmed he faced severe challenges when the naira was devalued, wiping off $70 billion of his assets in less than 12 months.
He predicted his resurgence, disclosing that the Dangote conglomerate will earn over $30 billion when the 650,000 bpd-capacity refinery reaches total production capacity.
He called the refinery an FX spinner for the Nigerian economy, saying the country will become a net exporter of petroleum products.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index data, Dangote earned more money in 24 hours than Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, the three wealthiest men on earth.
His net worth is now $27.8 billion from $13.4 billion a few days earlier.
He has given South Africaâs Rupert, who overthrew him in August, miles in a gap as Africaâs most prosperous and the worldâs richest black man.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s wealth rose by $15.1 billion (about N24.71 trillion) on Wednesday.
Before Wednesday, based on Bloomberg data, Dangote’s highest wealth level was $25.7 billion in July 2014.
Dangote’s impressive performance was evident on Wednesday as he doubled his net worth and recorded the highest wealth increase among all 500 billionaires surveyed.
Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at TimesNow.com.ng
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
