This is part of a series of articles sponsored by NIC Bank. The NIC Rights Issue closed on September 14th.

“Business is always a struggle. There are always obstacles and competitors. There is never an open road, except the wide road that leads to failure. Every great success has always been achieved by fight. Every winner has scars….The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and will-power to develop themselves. So choose to be among the few today.” ~ Chris Kirubi

Forbes ranked 70 year old Chris Kirubi the 31^st richest person in Africa last year with a net worth estimated at $300 million (25.2 billion shillings) making him the second richest person in Kenya after Uhuru Kenyatta. His business portfolio spans across real-estate, manufacturing and investments.

He is the single largest individual shareholder in publicly listed Centum Investment, Kenya Power and non-listed UAP Insurance. He owns 49 percent of Haco Tiger Brands (formerly Haco Industries) as well as the local DHL franchise and engineering and construction firm Sandvik. He is also the CEO and sole owner of Capital FM where he learned how to be a disc jockey thus earning him the nickname “Dj CK”.

Known for his eccentricity, he has been paralleled with the likes of Donald Trump as Kenya’s most flamboyant tycoon; alleged to have his suits dry-cleaned all the way in London. Once, while defending bribery allegations upon him, he stated “5 million is too little to bribe me.”

He has massive investments in real estate with International House as his most well known commercial property including more than 40 other commercial and residential properties across Nairobi valued at more than $200 million (16.8 billion shillings).

Real Estate was where Chris made his first breakthrough. After working at the transport company Kenatco as an administrator for years, he began acquiring dilapidated properties in Nairobi through loans from local financial institutions. He would then renovate the properties and flip them for a tidy profit which he used to buy prime land in Nairobi. It is on such land that Chris built his commercial and residential properties.

By 1998, Kirubi has accumulated enough wealth to buy full ownership of then Haco Industries, which as Chairman he expanded to a leading manufacturer of FMCGs across East Africa. Ten years later Haco formed a joint venture with Tiger Brands - South Africa’s largest food manufacturer - and rebranded to Haco Tiger Brands. Today, Haco Tiger earns revenue in excess of 2 billion shillings and is responsible for some of the most recognized product brands in Kenya including Bic, Palmers and Miadi.

Amazingly, Chris Kirubi also purchased Capital FM the same year he bought Haco Industries; growing it into one of the most listened to radio stations in East Africa as its CEO.

With Kenyan stocks rallying this year and the market poised to grow the back of developments such as internet trading and increasing foreign demand, it is to be witnessed just how much more Chris Kirubi’s multi-billion shilling net worth could grow from his share investments alone.