In a world that often equates age with slowing down, a remarkable group of billionaires is rewriting the rules.
These individuals, all over the age of 80, aren’t content to rest on their laurels, instead, they continue to actively manage vast empires.
In this article, WoK delves into the lives of these octogenarian billionaires, exploring the impact they continue to have on the world stage.
1. Baloobhai Patel
Born in 1938, Baloobhai Patel is the managing director and owner of Transworld Safaris Limited, a tour company.
Additionally, Patel holds minority stakes in several companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
Patel’s investment portfolio includes Transworld Safaris Limited, which he fully owns and manages. He is the largest non-institutional shareholder and serves as a non-executive director at Pan Africa Insurance.
Patel also maintains significant shareholding in Barclays Bank Kenya, Bamburi Cement, Carbacid Investments, Diamond Trust Bank Group and Safaricom.
2. SK Macharia
Born in 1942, S.K. Macharia is a prominent businessman who overcame a challenging upbringing to become the founder and chairman of Royal Media Services, a leading media company in Kenya.
Royal Media Services owns popular stations like Citizen TV, Radio Citizen, Inooro TV and Ramogi TV among many others.
Macharia’s early life was marked by financial struggles, but he persevered, eventually earning multiple degrees in accounting and finance in the United States.
Upon returning to Kenya, he worked in various government and corporate roles before establishing Royal Media Services, which has since grown into a major force in the Kenyan media landscape.
His achievements have been widely recognized, including being featured on Forbes’ list of African millionaires and The Africa Report’s list of influential Africans, as well as receiving the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Lifetime Achievement Award.
3. Bhimji Depar Shah
Born in 1931, Bhimji Depar Shah is a businessman, industrialist and entrepreneur, recognized as the founder of the BIDCO Group of Companies.
At the young age of 15, he embarked on his entrepreneurial path by establishing a petrol station in Nyeri, Kenya.
In 1970, Shah established Bidco Industries Limited, which began as a garments manufacturing business.
The company later shifted its focus to soap production in 1985.
By 1991, Bidco expanded into edible oil manufacturing and relocated its headquarters to Thika.
Today, BIDCO is a prominent manufacturer of soaps, detergents, and baking powder, with a significant presence in 13 African countries.
4. Peter Munga
Peter Munga is a Kenyan businessman and entrepreneur, born in 1943.
He is the immediate former Group Chairman of Equity Bank Group, the largest bank holding company on the African continent in terms of customer numbers.
Munga founded Equity Building Society (EBS) in 1984 in his hometown of Kangema with a starting capital of approximately $100, convincing the Kenyan government to grant him a license.
In 2004, EBS became Equity Bank, and two years later, it was listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).
Munga retired as Chairman of Equity Group Holdings Plc at the age of 75, after 35 years of service.
5. Pius Ngugi
Born in 1944, Pius Ngugi is a Kenyan entrepreneur and one of the wealthiest people in the country.
He is married to Josephine Wambui Ngugi and Nairobi woman representative Esther Passaris, and together they have six children, namely Angeline, Mbugua, Louise, Makenna, Miki and two children with Passaris.
Ngugi owns Thika Coffee Mills and the Kenya Nut Company.
The Kenya Nut Company, founded in 1974, is a major exporter of macadamia nuts from Kenya and employs 2,500 people.
He is also a shareholder in Kenya Alliance Insurance and has interests in sweet manufacturing, dairy farming, winery, and Amazon Motors.
Additionally, Ngugi is a shareholder in the Tatu City project, a large real estate development outside of Nairobi.
