Davido Reveals His Dad “Isn’t Pleased” With His Spending Habits At Forbes Summit; Says Showbiz Is “Different Business”

Nigerian artist Davido recently discussed his billionaire father, Adedeji Adeleke, ‘s thoughts on his spending habits. In addition, the DMW boss recently spoke about his career, the business of afrobeats, and other topics at the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Botswana.

The singer, who recently released his much-awaited “Timeless” album to rave reviews,  acknowledged during the interview that his businessman father wasn’t always happy with his expensive lifestyle and had even disagreed occasionally. Davido revealed that operating a business in showbiz is different from doing so daily. Then he gave a story about how his father responded when he read an article about him purchasing a pricey wristwatch.

He said:

“Sometimes we get into a lot of arguments because showbiz is different from a normal person’s life that’s just doing business. For example, I might be in Italy and he sees a caption ‘Davido buys this $300,000 watch’ and he’s like ‘Why are you wasting money?’ and I’ll be like ‘Daddy you won’t understand, we are inspiring people.”

Davido mentioned in the interview that his wealthy father makes sure he periodically saves and invests his money. He also recalled when he wanted to rent a penthouse, and his father gave him wise financial guidance.

In his words:

“But all in all, it’s still business, he still calls me to make sure I save here, invest there. For example I wanted to rent a penthouse and he advised me ‘You’re wasting money spending on rent, buy it and use it, when you’re not around, Air BnB, so little advice here and there. It took a while for him to accept it but now he has.”

"My family…they always loved music."@davido, singer, songwriter and producer, spoke to Forbes CCO @RandallLane about the business of Afrobeats with @RandallLane at the 2023 #ForbesUnder30#Under30Summit Africa. #Under30Africapic.twitter.com/N7YRa9cSPA

— Forbes (@Forbes) April 24, 2023