The Group Managing Director Zenith Bank Plc, Ebenezer Onyeagwu has increased his shareholding right at the bank with a fresh purchase totalling 662,842 of the lender shares.
Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) in a disclosure stated that the shares were purchased in two tranches. The first tranche was 652, 842 units at N22.10 kobo per share and another tranche of 10,000 units at N21.70 Kobo per share.
The new transactions have now brought the total shareholding rights of the Zenith Bank Group MD to 47.162 million units of shares, but still far behind that of the Deputy Managing Director, Adaora Umeo and that of the founder and chairman of the board, Jim Ovia.
According to the Audited Financial statement for the year ended 31st December 2020, gave Jim Ovia an overwhelming shareholding with a total of 3.546 billion units of shares, while the Deputy Group MD, Adaora Umeo is in second place with 68.873 million units of shares.
Onyeagwu with 47.162 million units of Zenith Bank shares is the third largest shareholder of the bank.
Onyeagwu became the MD of the Tier -1 Financial institution when he was appointed by the board in June 2019 to replace former Group MD Peter Amangbo, whose tenure expired May 31, 2019.
Zenith Bank noted that Onyeagwu entered the role as a vastly experienced banker and financial expert, who trained in reputable institutions of learning in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and United States of America.
He is a graduate of Accounting from Auchi Polytechnic where he obtained the Ordinary National diploma in 1984 and Higher National Diploma in 1987. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1989 while he was still undergoing the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) post graduation and was named a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) in 2003.
The MD is also an alumnus of the prestigious University of Oxford, England, from where he obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Strategy, and certificate in Macroeconomics. He also undertook extensive executive level business education in Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School of Columbia University, the Harvard Business School of Harvard University (all in the United States) and Lagos Business School of the Pan African University, Nigeria.
Onyeagwu has nearly 30 years of experience in the banking industry in Nigeria. He joined Zenith Bank Plc in 2002 as a Senior Manager, in the Internal Control and Audit Group of the bank. His professionalism, competence, integrity and commitment to the set objectives of the bank saw him rise swiftly between 2003 and 2005, first, as Assistant General Manager, then Deputy General Manager, and eventually as General Manager of the bank.