Elumelu chronicles story of his life to celebrate 60th birthday

Tony Elumelu Heirs Holdings chairman

Businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu on Wednesday posted a video on Instagram chronicling his youthful days down to his 60th birthday.

“Thanking God for the gift of life,” he captioned the video.

Elumelu began the countdown to his 60th birthday days ago when he posted a picture of his young self during his matriculation at the university.

He captioned it, “Time flies.”

Then on Monday, he shared a photo of himself in an elevator looking like a rock star with a caption that also showed his excitement towards his 60th birthday.

Elumelu is married to Dr Awele, a medical doctor. They got married in 1993 and have seven children — five girls and two boys.

Elumelu is the founder and chairman of Heirs Holdings, his family-owned investment company, committed to improving lives and transforming Africa, through long-term investments in strategic sectors of the African economy, including financial services, hospitality, power, energy, technology and healthcare. He is also chairman of UBA Group, Transcorp, and Heirs Oil and Gas. He also founded the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).

Elumelu sits on a number of public and social sector boards, including the World Economic Forum Community of Chairmen and the Global Leadership Council of UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited. In 2020, in recognition of his business leadership and economic empowerment of young African entrepreneurs, he was named in the Time100 Most Influential People in the World, and recognised with Belgium’s oldest and highest royal order. In 2022, TIME again recognised Tony with its inaugural TIME100 Impact list, honouring him alongside six global leaders who have gone over and beyond to move their industries – and the world – forward.