Theophilus Yakubu (TY) Danjuma, a Nigerian billionaire and former minister of defense, was the first ultra-wealthy Nigerian to formally establish a single-family office to manage his vast fortune.
Since then, other UHNWIs in Nigeria, including Hebert Wigwe, Aig Imoukhuede, and Austin Avuru, have established their own family offices to preserve and grow their wealth for future generations.
Danjuma is well known for founding the oil exploration company South Atlantic Petroleum, as well as his numerous philanthropic endeavors.
While the majority of his fortune is tied to his ownership of the oil company, Bloomberg estimates that a significant portion of his wealth is spread across a variety of assets.
The TY Danjuma Family Office is in charge of a large property portfolio in Lagos, London, Los Angeles, Singapore, and Marbella. It also has a decent portfolio of U.S. technology stocks, hotels in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, fertilizers, industrial gases, film production, and art.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of Theophilus Danjuma Family Office’s more notable investments:
1. TY Global Conservative Fund
The TY Global Conservative Fund is a Singapore-based open-end fund. The fund seeks capital growth by investing in both listed and non-listed securities. Through systematic risk management, the fund also aims to deliver absolute returns with low volatility. The fund manages approximately $60 million in assets, which are invested in a portfolio of blue chips such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Wells Fargo, and Nestle, among others.
May & Baker Nigeria Plc is a pharmaceutical company that manufactures and distributes vaccines, antibiotics, and sera. The company also sells diagnostics, medical equipment, and bottled water, in Nigeria.
Notore Chemical Industries Limited manufactures chemicals. Granular urea, nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, and ammonia fertilizers are manufactured and distributed by the company. Notore Chemical Industries sells its wares in Nigeria.
4. Industrial and Medical Gases Nigeria Plc
BOC Gases Nigeria PLC manufactures industrial and medical gases. The company also markets special gases, welding, and medical equipment.
The Lagos-based, art-supporting boutique hotel has fashioned the “art of hospitality” for over a decade.
6. Novotel Hotel Port Harcourt
This low-key, city-center hotel is two kilometers from the Liberation Stadium and a seven-kilometer drive from the Air Assault Golf Course.
The Kings Arms Hotel is a 300-year-old inn next to London’s Hampton Court Palace, once the home of Henry VIII.
Starchild Pictures is a feature film production company, focussing on developing movies from script to screen. Projects include the sleeper hit, The Liability, starring Tim Roth, Jack O’Connell, and Talulah Riley, as well as the cult creature horror film, Howl.
The Danjuma Collection consists of more than 500 works of contemporary art that have been acquired over the last decade. The collection includes works by emerging and more established artists from the United States and Europe, while also being supplemented by a permanent collection of works by artists of African descent.
The collection features works by artists such as Tracey Emin, Anthony Gormley, Albert Oehlen, Wade Guyton, Pieter Hugo, Lynette Yiadom Boakye, and Sterling Ruby.
10. South African Atlantic Petroleum
South Atlantic Petroleum is an exploration company with assets in Nigeria, Benin, the Central African Republic, and Madagascar. Danjuma is the company’s chairman, and Daisy his wife, is the vice chairman.
11. NAL-Comet Group
NAL-COMET, one of Nigeria’s most successful shipping companies, was founded in 1979 by General TY Danjuma. The company provides comprehensive services in shipping, oil servicing, terminal operation, clearing and forwarding, underwater engineering, electrical and electronic supply, and installation, transformer manufacture, fishing, and food product importation and distribution.
