By Niyi Tabiti
Kola Aluko, once the Nigerian oil magnate who sailed the $80 million Galactica Star and bought a Manhattan penthouse in One57, has resurfaced online with a new fixation: tequila.
Over the past day, Mr. Aluko has filled his Instagram feed with images of Los 7 Ángeles, a premium brand founded by Jaycee Chan, son of Jackie Chan. The sudden enthusiasm has prompted speculation that he is not only a fan but possibly circling the label as an investor. Neither he nor the company has confirmed a connection.
Mr. Aluko’s public image has long been defined by scale. In 2017, U.S. prosecutors alleged he and an associate secured energy deals in Nigeria through bribery and laundered the proceeds into yachts and real estate. The Galactica Star was eventually seized and sold, and authorities announced they had recovered more than $53 million. Mr. Aluko has not been convicted of a crime.
Now, tequila appears to be the latest stage for a man who has always favored highly visible platforms, from fashion weeks to Formula 1. If oil made him wealthy, tequila may be his attempt at reinvention—less crude, more crystalline.
Phase 1
It is late afternoon in Los Angeles, and Kola Aluko is raising his glass. Not champagne, not Bordeaux, not even a rare cognac—the Nigerian former oil magnate once known for his Galactica Star yacht and glittering Manhattan penthouse is now sipping tequila. And not just any tequila, but Los 7 Ángeles, the crystalline label Gistmaster.com gathered was launched by Jaycee Chan, son of Jackie Chan.
On Instagram, Aluko has gone into overdrive, blanketing his feed with sleek shots of the brand: bottles posed like objets d’art, pours captured in golden light, captions bordering on evangelism. The volume and urgency of the posts feel less like fandom and more like choreography.
The whispers came quickly: Is Aluko circling Los 7 Ángeles as an investor? A partner? Or is this simply an extravagant hobby for a man whose life has been nothing if not theatrical?
The Past That Won’t Let Go
To understand why these whispers matter, you need only rewind to 2017. That was the year U.S. prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture complaint alleging that Aluko and his associate, Olajide Omokore, had bribed Nigeria’s then–Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to secure lucrative energy contracts. They alleged the money was laundered into America’s luxury market: an $80 million superyacht, Galactica Star, and a $50 million penthouse at Manhattan’s One57.
The yacht became the scandal’s floating mascot—seized by U.S. courts, then auctioned off. Authorities ultimately announced they had recovered more than $53 million linked to the alleged schemes. To this day, Aluko has never been convicted of a crime. A forfeiture complaint is, legally speaking, an allegation, not a conviction. But the headlines were enough to brand him as a symbol of Nigeria’s oil excess gone global.
For many, Aluko’s rise and fall mirrored the era itself: dazzling, fast, and destined to implode.
The Cosmopolitan Blueprint
And yet, reinvention has always been Aluko’s native tongue. He was never just an oilman. He sat on the advisory board of VistaJet, helping the private-aviation firm expand into Africa. He co-founded the Made in Africa Foundation with designer Ozwald Boateng, pitching billion-dollar infrastructure projects with a dash of red-carpet flair. He was a fixture at F1 paddocks, at fashion week shows, in music studios—a dealmaker who curated his life like a runway collection.
This is why tequila, of all things, makes sense. A crystalline bottle, a celebrity pedigree, and an Instagram-ready aesthetic offer something oil rigs never could: narrative. Oil is wealth. Tequila is lifestyle. And for Aluko, lifestyle has always been currency.
The Tequila Play
Los 7 Ángeles launched with a Cristalino expression, a filtered tequila prized for clarity and smoothness, staking its claim in a crowded luxury spirits market. With Jaycee Chan’s star lineage and packaging designed for the spotlight, it is a brand built to seduce cosmopolitans and collectors alike.
Aluko’s sudden and aggressive amplification of it feels like more than brand fandom. There has been no public announcement of a stake, no confirmation of ownership. But the choreography—the timing, the saturation, the sheer insistence of the posts—suggests positioning.
If Aluko is indeed aligning himself with Los 7 Ángeles, gistmaster.com can tell you for free that it is his boldest narrative gamble since forfeiting the yacht. Where Galactica Star once symbolized scandal, a tequila label could symbolize rebirth—fluid, crystalline, and free of legal filings.
The Comeback Question
But can a man who once lived in the glare of billion-dollar scrutiny truly reframe himself with a bottle of agave? Among Nigeria’s elite, the debate is split. Some say Aluko’s moves feel too staged, too quick. Others argue that luxury culture loves nothing more than a comeback, and tequila offers just enough distance from oil to make it plausible.
What is undeniable is that Aluko has reentered the spotlight on his own terms. Whether as a silent backer or a high-profile evangelist, his tequila play keeps him visible, photographed, talked about—a currency he values as much as any balance sheet.
For now, the story is unfinished. The Instagram posts glisten like stage lights, hinting at a man not just drinking tequila but pouring himself into a new role: Kola Aluko, lifestyle impresario.
And if history has shown us anything, it’s that Aluko never plays small.
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