Founder of Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC) and famous Kenyan multi-millionaire, Julius Mwale, has been named as a vital stakeholder in a cutting-edge deal to procure the leading U.S. business magazine, Forbes, for approximately $800 million.
According to Axios, Forbes verified that Austin Russell, 28-year-old American CEO of Luminar Technologies, an electric vehicle tech company, will earn an 82% stake in the famous brand at an $800 million valuation. Though Forbes and Russell did not disclose how he was planning to fund the nearly $656 million needed to put him in the lead.
However, it was later revealed that Russell plans to put in only $10 million of his own money and will receive the rest from foreign investors. Julius Mwale was listed as one of the investment partners who will contribute millions of dollars to secure the deal. Other partners recorded were Global Silicon Valley, Sun Group conglomerate, and Kazakistan businessman, Bulat Utemaratov.
Billionaires Africa noted that Mwale’s participation in the high-stakes bid will be the first time an African investor will be a shareholder in such a global media empire. His move also highlights Africa’s emerging impact in the world and spotlights the potential of the continent.
Forbes is a well-known business media outlet. If the deal goes through, Mwale and the rest of the group will merge their distinctiveness and impact millions of Forbes’ existing and future readers, thereby setting in stone their global presence.
Last month, Mwale announced his plans to expand his Hamptons Hospital franchise to Botswana, and was in the country to attend Forbes’ Under 30 summit. During his keynote speech at the event, Mwale said “In 20 years, Africa is going to have about a quarter of the global population, and we see ourselves being able to move about 800 million people on the continent out of poverty by creating jobs.”
Time and time again, the African billionaire has shown his dedication to the growth of the African continent through job creation. His franchise, MMTC, has expanded into 12 African countries. He employs an integrated smart city development approach, and hopes to build 18 smart cities to empower 800 million people by the year 2050.
He also believes in the Africa trade agreement, which he says will lead Africa to become the world’s leading continent in population, growth, and development by 2043.
However, the 47-year-old’s life experience has not always been rosy. His journey starts from humble beginnings, where he was walking barefoot and even homeless. Now, several years later, Mwale boasts of serving on the boards of more than 20 corporations, including retail, pharmaceutical, health, technology, human resources, hospitality, engineering, and construction.
