In life, every person aspires to acquire wealth at a young age, however, the level of ambition and disparities in opportunity often determines how early in life one amasses wealth.
In Kenya, the economic environment in the country has bread different types of entrepreneurs and a number of young people have seized opportunities and worked hard to ensure their success early in life.
In this segment, Nairobileo.co.ke takes a look at the entrepreneurial journey of Eugene Mbugua, one of the richest young people in Kenya.
Eugene Mbugua and Bien-Aimé Baraza
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mbugua is a content creator, writer, film producer, director, and entrepreneur. He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director at Documentary & Reality Television Ltd formerly Young Rich Television Ltd.
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The 31-year-old made his fortune through interests in entertainment, real estate, beef farming, advertising, and publishing, as well as television.
He made a mark in the Kenyan film industry after one of his productions was aired on national television when he was just 22 years of age.
His journey to wealth is a perfect example of a 'rags to riches' story, as he endured multiple obstacles to make it to where he is.
Mbugua had an eye for entrepreneurship at a young age, and his journey began while he was still a student.
Between 2005 and 2008, he attended Upper Hill School in Nairobi and later proceeded to join the United States International University (USIU).
He graduated with a degree in Journalism and Television Production in 2013.
Eugene Mbugua
While at school, he worked side hustles to earn himself an extra buck. Between 2009 and 2013, he worked as a director at Tunawashow Junior Media.
He also taught film at the Makini School between February 2010 and November 2012. He would trek from Roysambu to Makini because he could not afford bus fare at the time.
During these walks, Mbugua learnt that some of the properties he saw along the way were owned by people below the age of 40 and that is where he got an idea for his first-ever show.
The show was called Young Rich and featured millionaires in Kenya under the age of 40 talking about how they made their money and the businesses they own.
He pitched the show to several media houses and it was later picked up by K24 TV. The first episode aired in 2013, on the eve of his graduation from USIU.
He made Ksh1 million in the first month, with K24 paying a licensing fee of Ksh250,000 per episode. The show ran for nine seasons.
Mbugua founded his own production company in 2013 and named it Young Rich Television which has since rebranded to Documentary & Reality Television Ltd.
The company has produced several shows, that have commanded a huge audience both locally and internationally.
They include: Get in The Kitchen, Our Perfect Wedding, Stori Yangu, My Friend, Being Bahati, Foods of Kenya, and The Best Of, shows that have aired on K24 TV, KTN, NTV, Maisha Magic East, Showmax, Iflix, Kwese, Startimes and Trigger (South Africa).
He is also the producer of Sol Family, a reality television series on award-winning music group, Sauti Sol.
Mbugua is venturing into the Tanzanian market and recently visited the country, where he met with some of the country’s leading artists including; Diamond Platinumz, AY, Mwana FA, among others.
The young entrepreneur has often stated that he was once broke, and the fear of having had nothing drives his ambition to be more successful.
“I’ve been poor before, I don’t want to be poor again. As long as I see poverty behind me, I’ll always be running ahead,” he told Citizen Digital during an interview in August 2020.
He is the managing director of the Number 7 club and bar located along Koinange Street in Nairobi CBD and Number 7 Lion in Westlands.
Mbugua is also the CEO of a publishing enterprise called My Yearbook Kenya Ltd, which publishes yearbooks for schools, companies, and also the government.
Together with his friends, Mbugua owns a feedlot in Isinya, Kajiado County where they purchase bulls and fatten them for a period of 12 weeks to become premium beef before selling them off.
In 2014, Mbugua was listed by Business Daily among Kenya’s male Top 40 under 40 entrepreneurs. In the same year, he bagged the Kalasha Award for his work on the film Child for Hire.
In 2016, he was featured on Forbes’ list for the 30 most promising entrepreneurs under the age of 30 in Africa, a feat he repeated in 2017.
