Many have not heard the name Benedict Peters, but he is one of Nigeria’s billionaires. He is the CEO of Aieto Group which is majorly invested in the oil and gas sector. He has managed to stay away from the spotlight because according to him, he is a very reclusive person. Nonetheless, Benedict Peters is listed as the 17th richest person in Africa; with a net worth of approximately $2.7 billion. Gaining influence in the oil and gas industry, Peters is considered a leader in the field. As his company continues to grow, it is expected his wealth will grow too.

Here are 12 things you didn’t know about Nigerian billionaire Benedict Peters.

He grew up in a middle-income family: Peters’ parents, a banker and a homemaker, were considered middle income. He grew up with three brothers and two sisters, and would go on to work closely with some of his siblings as he grew his company.

Peters graduated from the University of Benin: Peters earned a degree in geography and regional planning from the University of Benin. Shortly after graduating, he entered the workforce and quickly began gaining experience in energy trading, commodity trading, and banking.

He spent time working with Aliko Dangote’s younger brother: Benedict Peters has more in common with Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa, than just billions of dollars to his name. Peters spent several years in the early 1990s working alongside Dangote’s younger brother, Sayyu Dantata, in the Nigerian oil and gas business.

Peters initially invested in tank farms: After leaving Ocean and Oil (now known as Oando), Peters attempted to start his own company, Sigmund Communecci in 1999. Oando is a multinational energy corporation headquartered in Lagos and Nigeria’s largest non-government owned company in the energy industry. The company focus for Sigmund Communecci was on the downstream sector of the industry, specifically in tank farms, but Peters began to rack up debt and had to restructure.

In this Nigeria, there are many unheard billionaires whole wealth are shrouded in secrecy. As a matter of fact, An average yahoo boy who has been getting paid since 2007 till today is a billionaire, anyone could set up an oil and gas whatever and re-write history of how he started like Dangote.