Biograpy
Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan is a Nigerian monarch, the traditional ruler of Ugbo Kingdom, a town in Ilaje Local Government, Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria.
He is an oil magnate and founder of Obat Oil, one of Nigeria’s largest and leading privately held oil companies.
Early Life
Obateru was born in 1950 into the royal family of Sir Frederick Adetolugbo at Ugbo, a riverine area in Ilaje. He is the fourth child of a family of eight but lost his father in 1964 when he was 14 years old.
Obateru established Obat Oil in 1981. Today, the company has more than 50 gas stations across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria and the company owns one of the largest tank farms in Africa, a modern storage facility able to store 65 million liters of petroleum products.
Obateru appointed his second son, Prince Akinfemiwa Akinrutan, the managing director of the company.
Wife and Children
The king is happily married to two queens and they are blessed with 8 children namely Prince Abayomi Akinruntan, Princess Funmilayo Akinruntan, Prince Akinfemiwa Akinruntan, Princess Omobolanle Akinruntan, Prince Yinka Akinruntan, Prince Afolabi Akinruntan, Prince Sheyi Akinruntan and Princess Tutuma Akinruntan, they are all successful.
According to Prince Femi in one of his interviews, he said: “Growing up, we were never treated like royals even though we had a royal lineage. I was introduced to the family business from a young age, immediately after I completed university, my father dragged me into the business.
We have been trained from a young age that my path was in the family business and I also focused on that too. He made sure to give us good education and no extra privilege. We had to complete our first degree before we could travel out for vacation. At age 18, I started from the position of a pump attendant, learnt the ropes, later became a supervisor then station manager then General Manager, I worked with intelligent professionals that taught me lots of things and finally assumed his position when he was crowned Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom”.
Prince Abayomi Akinruntan is a businessman, politician and currently a member of the House of Assembly representing Ilaje Constituency1. He is actively involved in the day-to-day operation of Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited, one of Nigeria’s major indigenous oil companies, he became the operational manager of Obat Oil. He is the director of operations for Febson Hotel Nig. in Abuja. In 2011, he was appointed group Executive Director Operation Obat group and the Ondo State pioneer coordinator for Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board in Yenegoa before he ventured into active politics in Ondo State.
Prince Akinfemiwa Akinruntan is currently at the helm of affairs at Obat Oil, he is the Managing Director who has brilliantly run the affairs of Obat Oil for years now. He is often described as the man of style and has consolidated on his father’s impressive business profile. According to him, he has learnt virtually everything from his father and watched his father for over 22yrs and this has provided him with a strong foundation, though he still reaches out to his father for counsel and wisdom. His mum who happens to be the first wife of the king, Queen Yetunde Akinruntan is from the popular Abraham Adesanya’s family in Ijebu-Igbo in Ogun State.
Princess Mobola Akinruntan, has carved a niche for herself in the fashion industry. Her brand Login House is fast becoming a household name having participated in various local and international fashion shows. She is a graduate of Accountancy from Ogun State University. She spent a good number of years in the UK before relocating to Nigeria.
Age
1950
Source of Wealth
Oil and gas
Net Worth
In March 2014 Forbes estimated his net worth as US$300 million.
Obateru is ranked by Forbes magazine as the second richest King in Africa and the richest in Nigeria. He surpassed King Olubuse II, the Ooni of Ife, with $225 million and the Swaziland King Mswati III by over $200 million to become Africa’s second richest king in 2014 behind Mohammed VI of Morocco.
He has a custom built 2012 Rolls Royce similar to that of Queen Elizabeth II and on 14 January 2014, in an interview with Daily Post, he said “I have a $1 million watch, I use the same type of car like the Queen of England”.
Obateru is the first black person to buy the 2014 model of Bentley automobile.
In July 2013, in an interview with The Sun, Obateru said: “The first time I saw a car was 1961 in Sapele. At that time, Sir Festus Okotie-Eboh had a hotel in Sapele, Waterside Hotel. It was the first time I saw a hotel in my life. We used to describe hotels as bars. That was the first time I knew the difference between a hotel and a bar.”
Disclaimer
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