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Monrovia – Wonders, it is said, shall never end, as the Forbes Magazine publishes the name of former vice president Joseph Nyuma Boakai, as one of 10 richest Liberians.
Until the Forbes ranking for 2018 was released, Boakai, for a better part of his life had always successfully managed to have portrayed himself as belonging to the group of the halves-not in the Liberian society, although his supporters have always bragged that he has worked in government for over 35 years.
When Boakai stood for election in 2017, vying for the nation’s highest seat, the presidency, there were indications that the former Veep was broke, even at one point calling on the standard bearer emeritus of the former ruling Unity Party, former president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for support.
Being from the ruling party then, it was most likely that Boakai would have been opulent as far as support, especially funding was concerned. Rather, his campaign spending fell far below expectation, as his main contender, former footballer George Weah and his Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) ran a visibly lavish campaign.
This situation was largely blamed on the former vice president not being financially potent enough to have been able to bankroll his campaign, in the absence of party funding that was not forthcoming, as a result of glaring strangulation at the hands of his former boss, ex-president Johnson-Sirleaf, who favored his rival over him.
Boakai managed to have come second to eventual winner Weah of the CDC in the first round of the presidential election conducted on 10 October 2017, accumulating 446,716 votes, representing 28.8%, while his rival garnered 596,037 votes, accounting for 38.4%.
But Boakai later lost massively in the subsequent run-off election, with Weah sweeping the polls, gaining 732,185 votes or 61.5% of the total votes cast.
Before, during and even after the 2017 electoral process, Boakai, who is widely known to be an honest man, who at any point during his over 35 years experience in various public offices has not been reported to be involved in any corrupt practice, was believed to have not been a wealthy person until Forbes recently ranked him the number four richest Liberian.
Although Forbes did not publish former vice president Boakai’s net worth, many Liberians appeared shocked, upon hearing that the former VP would be as financially liquid as to make it on to the Magazine’s list of rich people around the world, just within less than a year when he reportedly struggled unsuccessfully to raise campaign funding for his failed presidential bid.
Seated at number one on Forbes’ list of Liberia’s richest people for 2018 is businessman turned politician of the All Liberian Party (ALP), Benoni Wilfred Urey.
Like Boakai, the Magazine did not disclose Urey’s net worth, but sources disclosed that the 60-year-old Liberian business tycoon, with his chain of businesses including the Lonestar Cell MTN, Wulki Farms, a car rental company, a publishing and broadcasting house, and a real estate company, U-Housing, is a multi-millionaire.
Also on the Forbes 2018 list of richest Liberians is President George Weah, who until his ascendancy to the presidency made tens of million from kicking football – Weah, who mostly made his millions from playing in Europe for clubs such as A.S. Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and A.C. Milan, became World Best, Europe Best, and Africa Best footballer, all in 1995.
In less than a year of being in office as Liberia’s 24th president, Weah is amassing wealth, with the former soccer star turned politician either constructing or reconstructing elegant structures at least in three locations in the country.
On the list also, as expected, is former president Johnson-Sirleaf, who the magazine ranked third.
Sirleaf is heavily accused of overseeing the pillaging of the country’s resources, with fingers being pointed at the ex-president as being responsible for leading a roguish band of her officials including her son Robert Sirleaf to have carried out massive corruption and the rummaging of state’s coffers, allegations the Nobel Peace Prize winner has vehemently rejected.
Current vice president Jewel Howard Taylor and former dreaded warlord, now senator of Nimba County, Prince Johnson are also on the list. The pair sits in sixth and seventh places respectively.
Madam Howard-Taylor was Liberia’s First Lady during the days her dictatorial former husband, jailed ex-president Charles Taylor presided over the looting of state resources, with the exercise of jungle justice throughout the country.
For his part, Prince Johnson, who is infamously credited with capturing, torturing, and mutilating former president Samuel Doe, reportedly gained much of his wealth during the war years, from looting. He is said to have accumulated another half of his net worth as a result of political maneuvering, relying on his vote-rich Nimba County to trade votes, being renowned as kingmaker in Liberia’s last three elections, according to sources.
The rest on the Forbes list are former Liberty Party standard bearer, Charles Walker Brumskine, 6th place; former interim president, Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer, 8th place; Liberian diplomat and politician, Winston A. Tubman sits in the 9th position; while Grand Cape Mount County Senator Harry Varney Gboto-Nambi Sherman occupies the 10th position.
Forbes Magazine is an American family-controlled business magazine, published bi-weekly, and featuring original articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics.
Forbes carries out annual ranking by the documented net worth of the world’s wealthiest people. The list was first published in March 1987. The total net worth of each individual on the list is estimated and is cited in United States dollars, based on their documented assets and accounting for debt.
Each year, Forbes employs a team of more than 50 reporters from a variety of countries to track the activity of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
Preliminary surveys are sent to those who may qualify for the list. According to Forbes, they received three types of responses – some people try to inflate their wealth, others cooperate but leave out details, and some refuse to answer any questions. Business deals are then scrutinized and estimates of valuable assets – land, homes, vehicles, artwork, etc. – are made.
Interviews are conducted to vet the figures and improve the estimate of an individual’s holdings. Finally, positions in a publicly traded stock are priced to market on a date roughly a month before publication.
Privately held companies are priced by the prevailing price-to-sales or price-to-earnings ratios. Known debt is subtracted from assets to get a final estimate of an individual’s estimated worth in United States dollars.
Since stock prices fluctuate rapidly, an individual’s true wealth and ranking at the time of publication may vary from their situation when the list was compiled.
Family fortunes dispersed over a large number of relatives are included only if those individuals’ holdings are worth more than a billion dollars.
However, when a living individual has dispersed his or her wealth to immediate family members, it is included under a single listing provided that individual is still living.
In 2018, there was a record of 2,208 people on the list that included 259 newcomers mostly from China and the U.S.; there were 63 people under 40 and it had a record number of 256 women.
The average net worth of the list came in at US$4.1 billion, up US$350 million from 2017. Added together, the total net worth for 2018’s billionaires was US$9.1 trillion, up from US$7.67 trillion in 2017. As of 2018, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has topped the list 18 of the past 24 years, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is ranked at the top for the first time and he became the first centibillionaire included in the ranking.
