Gor Semelang’o isn’t one to hide his wealth. He recently turned the heads of many Kenyans by gifting his son a brand new yellow Ford Mustang worth Sh. 8 million for his 18th birthday, along with hosting a lavish birthday party.
Gor’s life down the millionaire fast lane can easily be attributed to his grasp of financial literacy and understanding of how money works. Speaking to Dr King’ori, Gor shared nuggets of wisdom on wealth and how anybody can achieve financial success.
Gor explained that many of the world’s billionaires started with nothing and built their empires from the ground up. He noted that wealth is often transient, and success is driven by seizing opportunities and addressing problems with a good capacity for risk.
He recalled one instance of his young self complaining that the world is unfair. His friend asserted that indeed it is not supposed to be.
The friend advised him that to be in the 1% category of wealthy people in the world, he has to shift his mindset and work towards his goals.
“The easiest way to remain poor is to pretend you are rich. Forget about swag, it won’t pay the bills. Go out and work hard. Invest in contacts and build your business,” Semelang’o said in a past interview.
Today, the former Youth Fund boss is one of the silent billionaires living in the country. Semelang’o is an alumnus of the Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
In this article, we take a look at the businesses and properties owned by Gor Semelang’o.
1. Petrokenya Oil Company Limited
Gor has accumulated a lot of his wealth through investments in the oil industry. He revealed to Dr. King’ori that many barriers are preventing many Kenyans from entering this lucrative sector.
For example, to get into the oil business as an individual, one needs to have at least Sh. 140 million ($1,000,000) laying in the pipeline. What this means is that it’s not capital money nor is it the investment. It is just money that is lying idle somewhere.
Gor Semelang’o and Uhuru Kenyatta’s uncle, Muhoho were the co-owners of Petrokenya Oil Co. Limited. In 2020, he sold 45% of his shares to a UAE company, closing down a deal worth Sh. 4.5 billion. Hence he was left with an 8% shareholding in the oil company.
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2. Real Estate
Gor stated that he chose to invest in the real estate business particularly because the returns on it are ‘real’.
For the Kenyan market, he gave an approximate ROI of 10% monthly for each real estate investment, given that land is an appreciating factor of production.
Semelang’o explained that, if a businessman invests Sh. 10 million in real estate, he could approximately earn Sh. 100,000 each month from that investment. Anything more than that would be unrealistic.
However, in this business, Gor Semelang’o has also got his fingers burnt previously.
He shared that at one point in the past, he purchased Kisumu land from a friend who was in financial need. Later on, he came to realize that he purchased an acre strip of land.
3. Truth Magazine
Gor owns a weekly magazine called Truth Magazine, which used to be handled by his company, Talanta Media. In a past interview, Gor recalled an instance when Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp wanted to gain entry into the Kenyan market.
Murdoch’s company wanted to buy Gor Semelang’o’s Truth Magazine. He flew to New York for a meeting with Murdoch and was only given 10 minutes to present his case. Unfortunately, the deal fell through.
“I fumbled all through. I guess I was not psychologically prepared to meet the most influential media owner in the world,” he said.