The Real Secret Behind Tony Elumelu’s Corporte Success

Billionaire business man and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Tony O Elumelu has revealed what he says is the secret to how he got to where he is today.

According to the billionaire business man who sits on the board of numerous companies such as Heirs Holdings and Transcorp Hilton, he has gotten to where he is today simple because of luck.

Tony Elumelu made this known via his Twitter handle this Monday where he tweeted saying, “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.”

Continuing, he said, “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.

Hardwork and passion are within your power and control, and you should apply them to earn your own luck and to help us foster a better and more prosperous world.”

Tony Elumelu has risen through the corporate ladder in the banking sector where he started off in 1985 at the Nigerian Bank Union Bank as a youth corp member before kicking off his career as a salesman.

He got the ‘proverbial’ break when he was given a chance by the then hiring manager at Allstates Trust Bank where he got a chance to prove himself despite applying for a position that required a distinction. He had finished school with a second class upper rating. This, hwoever, did not stop him from believeing himself and working to also show that he was capable of delievering more than his certifcate carried.

Of his career’s early days he said:

“I started my career as a salesman, a copier salesman to be specific, young, hungry, and hardworking, but the reality was that I was just one of the thousands of young Nigerian graduates, all eager to succeed.”

Elumelu quickly worked his way up such that by 1997, he led a small group of investors to take over a struggling Crystal Bank (later renamed Standard Trust Bank). He turned it profitable within a few years and subsequently in 2005 led one of the largest mergers in the banking sector in Sub-Saharan Africa by acquiring United Bank for Africa (UBA).