How stars make big bucks offstage

L-R, Teju Babyface, Kefee, AY, Omotola and Tuface

Although most celebrities earn much from entertaining their fans, they also venture into other businesses from which they rake in a lot of dough. Saturday Beats beams the torch on some celebs and their various businesses.

 AY

The question on everybody’s lips when it comes to this dark-skinned comedian from Ondo state is, how does he do it? He may not be the funniest comedian in the land, but he is one of the wealthiest and most business oriented. He recently bought his wife a car worth about N10m. He gained fame through impersonating Rev. Chris Okotie in his jokes, and in 2006, when he began, he was named the Best Up-Coming Comedian in Nigeria. Seven years down the line, he has the AY Show which gets good reviews. AY is the CEO, Corporate World Entertainment, an outfit that is focused on packaging events and providing contents for radio and television. His outfit powers AY Live, The AY Show and Open Mic Challenge -the monthly talent hunt programme that produced the likes of Emeka Smith, MC Shakara, Elenu, and Seyi Law. The newest spinoff of the AY brand is AY’s Crib. He has also ventured into writing, with a book, AY’s Diary.

Kefee

The beautiful songstress has been in the entertainment industry for a while. However, she became more popular with her hit song, Kokoroko, in which she featured Timaya. She is known more for singing gospel music and is often referred to as the chorus leader, which is also the name of her latest album. The music diva showed that her talent is not limited to singing. She proved she is a wonder woman in the kitchen by launching into catering business. She has her continental restaurant, Branama Kitchen, situated in Mende area of Maryland, Lagos.

Tuface

Innocent Idibia aka Tuface has been in the game for a long while. One of the pioneers of modern day R‘n’B in Nigeria, the music star has certainly made his mark in the industry. He has his own record label where he has two striving artistes, Dammy Krane and Rocksteady. 2baba, as he is often referred to, has also invested heavily in real estate. Ever heard of the club, Rumours, situated in GRA Ikeja, Lagos? It is a joint business between him and Dotun Olatoye who is a well-known name in club business in Nigeria.

Teju Babyface

He launched himself as a comic merchant. As his stage name implies, the multi-talented young man endeared himself to his fans with his hilarious jokes, dimunitive stature and ‘baby’ face. Some believe that was what he used to charm his bride who is a former beauty queen. Although he still does his comedy gigs, he is known for hosting the funniest talk show in the land – The Teju Babyface show – where he invites personalities and interviews them in a humorous manner.

Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde

Although she is a mother of four kids, this diva goes by the nickname, Omosexy, and no one can contest that she is sexy. The ‘bootilicious’ screen queen has been graced television screens for decades and has succeeded in revamping herself and blending with trends. Recently she was listed as one Time Magazine’s most influential 100 people in the world. The philanthropist now has her own reality television show, The Real Me.