Tony Elumelu Tells Why These Men Are His Role Models
Tony Elumelu, the African business leader behind Heirs Holdings Group – a Nigerian conglomerate with investment in Financial Services, Power, Hospitality, Oil and Gas and Healthcare – has revealed who his role models are.
They are late Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson, Mr Elumelu recently disclosed.
He made the revelations while responding to question during a one-on-one chat with Richard Attias at the 7th edition of the Future Investment Initiative: The New Compass, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The African leading investor labelled Steve Jobs, an entrepreneur whose business crossed $1 trillion market capitalisation even after his death, a man of foresight and Michael Jackson, one of greatest musicians of all time, a man of excellence.
He said:
“Unfortunately they are both dead. But I like steve Jobs for all the things he did. The man who founded a company in his death, years after his death, became the first company to cross $1 trillion in market capitalization. That is great… A man of great foresight. I like him. And second one interestingly is Michael Jackson. Why do I like Michael Jackson? He epitomized hardwork, and excellence. You know, people often say or you go watch Michael Jackson, say what a star, wow, he’s so talented, he’s blessed. He worked hard for it. If you watched ‘this is it’, if you watch some of his videos, you see the practice, the hard work, and the excellence that goes into it. Then you begin to realize that this is not a fluke. Its not just a fluke, it’s not just luck. He worked hard for it. And this is what I preach to my children. This is what I tell my children, my colleagues about life. You need to work hard, put in the time, the hours and you see the outcome.
“So these two men, a man of foresight, Steve jobs. Michael Jackson, a man of excellence.”
