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Good morning from Billionaires.Africa.
Here is a brief on what we published yesterday.
Adaora Umeoji, who became Zenith Bank's first female Group Managing Director and Chief Executive in June 2024, holds 285 million shares in the lender she now runs — worth N29.3 billion, or approximately $21 million at current exchange rates. That makes her one of the wealthiest serving bank chief executives in Nigeria by disclosed equity holdings, and the figure will grow further when Zenith pays its proposed N10 per share full-year dividend, which would deliver her N2.85 billion in dividend income for 2025 alone.
Elsewhere, we ran three diaspora business profiles: Charles Phillips, who went from Marine captain to Oracle co-president to building Infor into a $13 billion software company; Tammy Jones, the founder of Basis Investment Group, one of the few Black- and woman-led commercial real estate platforms with nearly $9 billion in closed deals; and Paul Judge, who co-founded the Southeast's largest venture fund after exiting three tech companies including Pindrop and CipherTrust.
Top Story
Adaora Umeoji's Zenith Bank shares are now worth $21 million Umeoji's 285,096,933 Zenith Bank shares are valued at N29.28 billion at the current price of N102.70. The bank delivered profit after tax of N1.03 trillion in 2024, the first time it crossed the trillion-naira mark. Zenith's nine-month gross earnings rose 16.3 percent to N3.37 trillion in 2025, with shareholders' equity now at N4.73 trillion — the largest capital base of any Nigerian commercial bank.
Diaspora Profiles
Charles Phillips: From Marine captain to a $13 billion tech empire Phillips graduated from the Air Force Academy, served as a Marine captain, climbed Wall Street, became Oracle co-president under Larry Ellison, drove 70 acquisitions including PeopleSoft and BEA Systems, then took over Infor and built it into the world's third-largest enterprise software company. He now runs Recognize, an investment firm targeting software services companies.
Tammy Jones: $9 billion in deals at Basis Investment Group Jones founded Basis Investment Group as one of the few Black- and woman-led commercial real estate platforms in the United States. The firm has closed nearly $9 billion in transactions.
Paul Judge: Pindrop, CipherTrust and Panoramic Ventures Judge co-founded Panoramic Ventures, the Southeast's largest venture fund, after building and selling three tech companies including Pindrop and CipherTrust.
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