Chris Kirubi Biography: Family, Wife, Children, Wealth and Net Worth

Chris Kirubi was a Kenyan businessman, entrepreneur, industrialist and philanthropist. He is a Director at Centum Investment Company Limited, a business conglomerate, in which he is the largest individual shareholder.

Chris Kirubi is the chairman and a shareholder of Haco Tiger Brands (a joint venture with Tiger Brands SA, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange).

He is also CEO of Capital FM and holds large equity stakes in Nairobi Stock Exchange-listed investment firm Centum, UAP Insurance and the Kenyan franchise of DHL. Furthermore, he is a shareholder in Nairobi Bottlers, a bottling franchise for Coca-Cola.

Chris Kirubi Age

Chris Kirubi was 80 years old as of 2021, he was born in 1941

Chris Kirubi Family

Kirubi was born poor, lost both parents very early, and had to start working during school holidays to supplement the needs of his brothers and himself. Upon graduation, he worked for Shell, as a salesman, selling and repairing gas cylinders.  According to him, the pennies he earned from this job could not have bought anyone dinner.

Chris Kirubi Parents

Chris Kirubi was born to a poor family. Both of his parents died when he was very young. He began work while still in school, working during school holidays to support himself and his siblings. Upon graduation, his first job was as a salesman, selling and repairing gas cylinders for Shell, the petroleum conglomerate.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, Kirubi worked as an Administrator at Kenatco, a government-owned transportation company.

Starting around 1971, he began buying run-down buildings in the cities of Nairobi and Mombasa, renovating them and either selling the renovated structures or renting them out.

He also began acquiring strategic pieces of land in and around Nairobi and proceeded to erect rental residential and commercial properties on them, using loans from Kenyan financial institutions.

Chris Kirubi Wife

Kirubi divorced his wife 18 years ago but they have one beautiful daughter Mary-Anne Wambui.

Very little is known about his wife Ms Kirubi who went under immediately after they successfully parted ways. However, it can be revealed that as late as 2017 the lady who leads a lowkey life had already retired and is leading a low life.

Chris Kirubi Marriage

In a recent interview with Business Daily, Kirubi was asked if he intends to marry (since he is in the process of completing his dream home) and his sentiments were quite interesting. Unlike any eligible bachelors or divorced men or women, Chris Kirubi approaches the whole subject differently.

The Mogul believes that you should let marriage come to you and not the other way round. He said marriage comes to you as a blessing and you must not go around chasing after women to marry because you will end up choosing the wrong partner.

Chris feels that love will always find you and he believes if God chooses to bless him with a wife then he will gladly accept it but he will not look for marriage but marriage will look for him and that is why he has remained unmarried for all these years.

Chris Kirubi Children:

Chris Kirubi has one beautiful daughter Mary Anne Musangi and a son Robert Kirubi

Chris Kirubi Son Robert Kirubi

Kirubi’s son Robert Kirubi works in Belgium and he is the head of Global Customer programs at DHL Services Logistics.

Robert in 2018 turned down an offer by his father when he was asked to come back to Kenya and manage some of his father’s businesses.

In one of the last interviews that the late Kirubi featured on, he said that probably he turned down the offer because he was paid well by the company in Belgium.

Chris Kirubi Daughter Mary Anne Musangi

Chris first-born daughter is known as Mary Anne Wambui aged 47 years old.

Wambui is a Kenyan businesswoman and entrepreneur who runs her father’s empire and also seats on a number of boards of public and private companies.

The companies include; Sidian Bank, Haco Tiger Brands, UAP Investments Limited, International House Limited, Woof Advertising and marketing, Sheraton in Rongai and Croyden Limited.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International business administration and a Master of Science in management from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom.

She once described her mother saying “a lovely lady, very low key, very hardworking and a woman who loved her kids.”

Asked about her father in an interview in 2017- she said that “ he is a mentor who grew up with nothing and today is one of Kenya’s most accomplished businessmen.”

Chris Kirubi Net Worth

Kirubi has an estimated net worth of over $300 million dollars as of 2021.

Chris Kirubi Early Life

During the 1960s and early 1970s, Kirubi worked as an Administrator at Kenatco, a government-owned transportation company.

Starting around 1971, he began buying run-down buildings in the cities of Nairobi and Mombasa, renovating them and either selling the renovated structures or renting them out.

He also began acquiring strategic pieces of land in and around Nairobi and proceeded to erect rental residential and commercial properties on them, using loans from Kenyan financial institutions.

His foray into real estate property development was timely and strategic, and he made a killing. He is one of Kenya’s wealthiest businessmen with a fortune estimated at $300 million, and also one of the richest men in Africa.

His property management company, International House Limited (IHL), owns and manages various residential and commercial buildings in Nairobi and he owns Nairobi’s landmark International House building, one of the city’s longest standing and most prestigious commercial properties.

Chris Kirubi Holdings

Kirubi’s investments include but are not limited to the following: (1) Centum Investments: Chris Kirubi is the largest single investor in the company, whose stock is listed on both the Nairobi Stock Exchange and on the Uganda Securities Exchange.

(2) He owns 100% of Haco Industries Limited, a Kenyan household goods manufacturer. (3) 98.4 Capital FM, is a Nairobi radio station, whose shares he owns 100%. (4) Kenya Commercial Bank Group and (5) Nation Media Group

Chris Kirubi Wealth

Chris Kirubi has learned much since he acquired his first dilapidated property in the early 1970s. He now counts among his real estate holding Nairobi’s iconic International House building (home to his office) and, through his property holding company

House Limited, 40 other residential and commercial properties across the city, valued at more than $200 million.

Add his other assets and Kirubi is worth a conservative $300 million, placing him at number 31 on Forbes’ inaugural list of Africa’s 40 Richest.

Yet he is somewhat modest about his success. “People say I am one of the richest people in Kenya, but that’s not my concern.

I mean, they say I am a god of sorts, but I don’t agree,” he says with a smile. “When I look around at my companies and see the number of people we have employed, it gives me joy.

It is more satisfying than having all the money in the world.” Through his various enterprises, including International House, Tiger Haco Industries, Capital FM and DHL Kenya, he employs close to 1,000 people.

Chris Kirubi – Haco Industries

In 1998 Chris Kirubi acquired for an undisclosed sum 100% of Haco Industries, a Kenyan subsidiary of a Dutch trading house.

Kirubi expanded the company from a distributor of American and British brands to a leading indigenous manufacturer of consumer products, including TCB and Palmers, the bestselling hair and skin care products in the country.

In 2008 Haco formed a joint venture with Tiger Brands, one of South Africa’s largest food manufacturers. Revenues of Haco Tiger Industries were in excess of $33 million in 2010. It employs close to 700 people.

“In a way, I feel like I am a part of every Kenyan’s life. 95% of all Kenyans or anyone who comes to Kenya has at one time or the other used a product that is manufactured by me.”

The company does make everyday items like the Bic pen I bought to take notes, as well as razors, lighters, baby food, stationery, and bleach.

Chris Kirubi – Capital FM

In 1998 he purchased Capital FM, a floundering local radio station. “I didn’t just want to acquire the station solely for the financial dividends it was eventually going to give me; I wanted to love the business, I wanted to understand the business from the very basics.

So I approached the managers and told them that I wanted to host a rock radio show. I asked them to teach me how to become a Disc Jockey.”

Kirubi not only learned how to disc jockey, but he also began hosting a weekly rock show on the station. The public went wild. Ratings shot through the roof. The station is now the largest in Kenya in terms of listenership – over three million people tune in every day, and it has outshone the competition for several years running.

Chris Kirubi – Centum Investment

Chris Kirubi holds the largest individual stake in Centum Investments, a private equity firm listed both on the Nairobi and Uganda stock exchanges with a recent market capitalization of $92 million. Centum has one of the most attractive investment portfolios in the region, including substantial stakes in Coca-Cola, Safaricom (Kenya’s leading telecoms company) and Kenyan Commercial Bank.

Chris Kirubi – UAP Insurance

Chris Kirubi is also the largest individual shareholder in UAP Insurance, east Africa’s third largest insurance company.

Chris Kirubi Two Rivers Mall

Until it announced recently that it was going to cede some shares to Old Mutual, Centum Investment had a 58.3 percent stake in Two Rivers Mall.

The mall, said to be the biggest by size (62,000 square meters) in Kenya, sits on a 100 acres on Limuru Road, not far from the leafy suburbs of Nayri, Gigiri, Muthaiga, and Runda.

The first phase is set to cost over Sh25.2 billion. Two Rivers is being developed by Athena Properties Limited, a subsidiary of Centum. It will host a five-star hotel, residential apartments, an office park, and house international anchor stores.

Billionaire businessman Chris Kirubi is the majority shareholder in Centum, headed by James Mworia as the CEO. The Capital FM owner and deejay is also a director at Centum.

One of Kenya’s wealthiest businessmen, Kirubi has a fortune estimated at $220 million (Sh22 billion) as of January 2016, according to Forbes.

Forbes put his stake in centum at 27 percent, 49 percent stake in Haco Tiger Brands, the DHL franchise in Kenya and extensive commercial and residential real estate in Nairobi.

“This project proves that we have the capacity to tackle our own challenges such as unemployment and rapid urbanization.

We all have an opportunity to be part of something great,” said Kirubi, Two Rivers’ board chairman, during the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Vision 2030 recently.

Chris Kirubi Net Worth – Building on a Property Foundation

That journey began with property development. Chris Kirubi owns one of Kenya’s most iconic buildings, the International House in Nairobi – namesake and headquarters of International House Limited, his property investment firm.

“Property was one of the easiest things to try to get into,” Kirubi explains. “Properties were not expensive as they are now.

Today in Kenya it is almost impossible to buy. Back then, if you had a friend in the bank to support you it was easy to buy these assets.

I used to buy neglected properties, do them up and flog them in the market. It was an area that there were not many people involved in, and it was a very profitable venture.”

“I was asked by a company to partner with them in manufacturing writing implements and was also trading with a Dutch company.

But I got involved with the Dutch company because the MD stayed in one of my properties. We got to know each other and became good friends. With International House, I worked for [the insurance company that was headquartered there].

I used to sell policies and when they decided to close down their offices in Kenya, they offered me the opportunity to buy the building and supported me in talking to the banks and off we went. So property was always the foundation.

From there, Chris Kirubi built a diversified empire and recalls only one defeat – a paint industries business.

But even on the topic of failure, Chris Kirubi is characteristically upbeat. “I didn’t understand the routes to market and couldn’t gain ground against the Giants in the sector.

But I learned: you fail, you get up and you walk. You move on. I had the proceeds from the assets and some land that I still hold, so it wasn’t a total disaster,” he says.

His successes have been plentiful and on this point, Chris Kirubi can afford to be a little philosophical. “Success for me is not enumerated in wealth,” he says.

“I have come to discover that money and material things are never quite sufficient; the goal post always shifts when you get there.” He returns to his typical pragmatism: “Success means being able to accomplish the goals I have set out for myself.

If, for example, I have a goal to build a state-of-the-art property, success comes in small doses. It is in seeing the milestones we have achieved with the completion of every construction step and finally being able to open up the building for occupation.

More so, it extends to having a 100-percent occupancy rate of satisfied clients. When that happens, I can say I feel successful in that angle.”

His biggest success, he believes, was his transition from a position of poverty to that of an employer, shepherding himself ”from the very poor world to a world where I am able to create jobs and create opportunities” for fellow Kenyans. “My success is Kenya’s success. I have lots of people working for me in the various companies I have. From being poor, I am now a job creator, creating lives for other people.”

Chris Kirubi Wealth – Managed Interventions

Chris Kirubi has developed a reputation for turning around failing businesses, Capital FM is an exemplary case. “Capital FM was almost dead.

They were not paying their bills, the staff was demotivated. It was struggling in the market place,” Kirubi says.

“But I saw an opportunity. I realized that what was missing was focused on management. The company was concentrating on a narrow band of expat listenership.”

The beleaguered radio station might not have seemed a viable investment to many, but to Kirubi it was an opportunity.

“I like buying things that are not well managed and turning them around because I know the one thing I can put into a business is management.

Within a few years, we turned it around, widened the base of listenership, brought in younger Kenyans to be presenters and I myself went on air – I got involved to make sure that people had contact with me.”

The opportunity was two-fold. “I really thank Capital very much because I had lots of products to promote and I was paying a lot of money in advertising. So I thought, why don’t I buy the media itself?” he says jovially, before adding on a serious note: “It became my life. When you get into media, it’s hard to get out.”

Chris Kirubi Wealth – A Diversified Portfolio

How has he managed to build success in so many diverse sectors? “Regardless of the sector, being successful requires first and foremost that you understand your market,” he answers.

“When I first got into media, I faced numerous challenges in trying to understand the market, its needs, the skills required and the peculiarities of the industry.

I had to do my research and practically submerge myself in the industry by becoming a DJ in order to understand the market. Only then could I make proper and effective decisions.”

Knowing your market is just one item on a shopping list of attributes and virtues that Kirubi feels help create success.

“You need to have a vision, be passionate about it, build a credible brand and have tenacity, especially when the trials seem to be more than the successes,” he advises. “Obviously this list is not exhaustive but success requires you to put in hard work.”

Chris Kirubi Wealth – Going Social

His involvement in Capital FM took Kirubi into the brave new world of digital media, which has captured him completely.

“This to me is a very exciting world. I have an average of three million hits a day on Capital FM. The future is new media.

It is instant, it is specific and everybody can talk to everybody else. New media is very fast. You are not waiting for news at 10 at night,” he says. “Businesses have to change. They have to see communication as a major issue.

They have to understand who is saying what about them and to be aware of negatives and correct them, or their businesses will disappear beneath them without them knowing what is going on. [New media] has brought customers to the forefront. People have the power now to communicate.”

Kirubi’s use of social media and his show on Capital, which he presents as DJ CK, have raised his public profile as an outspoken advocate for entrepreneur and entrepreneurs. His Twitter account (@CKirubi) has over 100,000 followers, many of whom use the hashtag #AskKirubi to solicit his guidance.

Chris Kirubi Wealth – Entrepreneurial Flair

“Yes, I engage with many aspiring entrepreneurs. In fact, I have always advocated for self-employment as a means to curb the skyrocketing unemployment levels in Kenya.

Young people shouldn’t just wait to get absorbed into the formal employment sector but must look at alternative ways of generating income,” Kirubi says.

According to Chris Kirubi, the issues that keep young entrepreneurs awake at night include cash flow, access to financing, competition in the market and the market’s relative demand for their offerings.

At least, those are the issues they frequently ask him about. “What I always assure them is that for the most part, there is nothing new under the sun.

Your proposition is not a ‘eureka’ one. It is more likely an offshoot of an old solution adapted to evolving challenges. As such, many other people have gone before you and encountered the same problems.

One of the best ways to counter these problems is to get a business mentor and if possible, allow yourself to be incubated until you feel you can stand on your own two feet.”

Online mentoring allows Chris Kirubi to combine two of his passions: entrepreneurs and Kenyan youth.

“There is much that I do behind the scenes but I remain most passionate about young people,” he says. “In fact, I have made it my life’s mission to belong to them.

For me, this means understanding how young people think, what matters to them and seeing how best I can influence positive change.

The truth is that ‘youth’ remains a most sought-after commodity – but it is also a very trying time because they have not quite concretized their identity.

I am passionate about inspiring them to become who they want to be, in line with what matters to them. There are no limits to what they can perceive and consequently achieve.”

Chris Kirubi looks to global business icons for his own inspiration. “I am inspired by successful moguls like Richard Branson and Donald Trump,” he says.

“These are individuals who are able to overcome their own personal hurdles, actively seek out new territories to conquer and actually excel despite others not believing in them.

They are unconventional in their thinking and lifestyle, take huge risks and as a result, have created huge empires from their personal brands.

I identify most with them but I am also very driven. In my personal life, I am inspired by my family and the fact that I have this talent, for which I must be an excellent steward. I do not take my abilities for granted.”

Chris Kirubi Daughter Mary Ann Musangi

Billionaire Chris Kirubi’s daughter Mary Ann Musangi has been named to the seven-member board of K-Rep Bank, a move seen to entrench the family’s presence in the lower-tier financial institution.

Ms. Musang’s appointment could be interpreted as part of the emerging corporate culture of enhancing family presence in influential positions, which is aimed at softening decision-making and safeguarding family interests.

K-Rep is over 67 percent owned by Centum Investments where Mr. Kirubi controls a majority shareholding at almost 30 percent.
Ms. Musangi, a graduate from the UK’s University of Surrey, brings to the financial institution over 15 years of corporate experience, most of which was earned in the banking industry.

BY GACHIE JOSPHAT

Source-https://kenyacradle.com/

Chris Kirubi Biography: Family, Wife, Children, Wealth and Net Worth