Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu is a Nigerian serial entrepreneur and philanthropist who has made great waves nationally and internationally. He was born on the 22nd of March, 1963.

He worked in the Nigerian Union Bank as a Youth Corper in 1985 before starting his career as a salesman, a copier salesman to be precise. Subsequently, he joined Allstates Trust Bank. In 1997, he led a small group of investors to take over a struggling Crystal Bank, later renamed Standard Trust Bank and later acquired United Bank for Africa.

Following the merger of Standard Trust Bank and United Bank for Africa in 2005, he led the company as group managing director from a single country banking group to a Pan-African bank with subsidiaries in 20 African countries, France, the US and the UK and eventually stepping down in 2010. He currently chairs the board of directors in UBA. 

In 2010, he founded his own family owned Investment Company “Heirs Holding”. In the same stride he brought into existence his foundation “The Tony Elumelu Foundation”. The foundation is an African based foundation championing entrepreneurship in Africa.

Anthony Elumelu has received several awards, he is Forbes Africa’s top 5 richest men and he is also on Time’s list of 100 most influential people.

Recently, through his Twitter page he stated that it is luck that has brought him this far. He said luck is part of the cocktail one needs to be successful.

He wrote “I am where I am today because of luck. Let me be clear: luck is important but it is not a substitute for hard work or labor. Luck is a part of the cocktail that you need for success. There are two ingredients for luck- hard work and passion. The more work you put into something and the more passion you apply, the “luckier” you will find yourself. You have to work hard, and be passionate and committed about what you do, to be successful and make your own luck. Hard Work and passion are within your own power and control, and you should apply them to earn your luck and to help us foster a better and more prosperous world”. This was his Monday motivation.