James Ikechukwu Esomugha, popularly known as Jim Iyke, is a Nigerian actor and a core philanthropist.
Profile Summary
| Full Name/Stage Name | James Ikechukwu Esomugha/Jim Iyke |
| Date of Birth | 25 September 1976 |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Ethnicity | Igbo |
| Occupation | Nigerian Actor and Philanthropist |
| Net worth | $30 million USD |
Who Is Jim Iyke?
Jim Iyke is not just a rich and successful actor – he often uses his money and possessions for charity purposes. The superstar owns the charity organization, called Jim Iyke Foundation. It is created to help children with special needs. In December 2012, Jim Iyke paid a visit to Kenya in terms of the campaign “Make a Change”, which was organized by Christopher Grey and Cecile. He also contributes to various other good causes. Apart from everything else, Jim Iyke has a lot of prestigious awards. He won Teenage Choice Awards three times. He has been acknowledged as the Best Actor at the Nigerian Entertainment Awards. And this is not the full list of his various “bests”.
Early Life of Jim Iyke
Jim Iyke, with birth name of James Ikechukwu Esomugha was born on 25th September 1976. He was born in Libreville, Gabon. His parents, from Ogwugwu Village in Enugu Agidi town of Anambra State, changed their name from Okolue to Esomugha. He is the only boy in a family of eight children. He attended secondary school in F. G. C. Kwali Abuja from 1985 to 1991, then earned a diploma in Banking and Finance and a BSc in philosophy from the University of Jos, Plateau State.
Jim Iyke’s Career Path
Jim Iyke began acting in 2001. As of October 2013, he was one of the highest paid actors in Nollywood, he has appeared in over 150 films.
He started a movie production company, Untamed Productions in 2007, and also has his own music record label, Untamed Records. His first album, titled Who Am I? featured some of Nigeria’s top musicians, such as TuFace Idibia and Sound Sultan.
Controversy Associated with Jim Iyke
A video of Jim Iyke’s purported ‘deliverance’ from an evil spirit at The Synagogue Church of All Nations, led by Pastor T.B. Joshua, provoked intense debate on social media. The spirit reportedly confessed that it was behind Iyke’s inability to find a wife.
Philanthropical Life of Jim
He is the founder of Jim Iyke Foundation for Children with Special Disabilities. He visited Kenya in December 2012 in support of the Make a Change Campaign, a charity project founded by Christopher Grey and Jamaican dance hall artist Cécile.
Jim Iyke Love Life
Jim often dated different women in the past, and not all of his relationships ended well. For example, Jim Iyke was dating the Jamaican model, Keturah Hamilton. He met the beautiful woman in the United States, on his filming tour.
Since then, they were inseparable, and Jim Iyke gave his fans a hint that he could be marrying his sweetheart soon. However, they broke up, and he went on to date Nadia Buari, the Ghanaian actress. The media expected them to get married, but their union suddenly crashed a couple of months later. There were a lot of controversies surrounding their relationship. Still, Jim and Nadia later reconciled, and even though they are not a couple anymore, they are on normal terms with each other now.
The Nollywood star has a little son, whose name is Harvis Chidubem Iyke. He was born on September 1st, 2015. The mother of little Harvis is Jim Iyke’s Lithuanian girlfriend, Dana Kinduryte. Jim Iyke tried his best to hide his relationship with Dana from the public eye because, in his opinion, most of his previous romantic relationships were ruined due to excessive publicity. According to Jim Iyke, his son changed his life and made him a better person. Even though his and his girlfriend’s families wanted to help him out with raising his child, he decided that he wants to do it himself. He learned how to take care of little Harvis, and the fatherhood taught him a valuable lesson. Nowadays, he appreciates his boy more than anything and tries to spend every possible minute with him. He regularly goes to Lithuania, where his baby mama and son reside and is incredibly happy to see Harvis.
Jim Iyke Net Worth
Jim Iyke e is currently a very wealthy & most influential actor in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of$30 million USD Dollars.
Conclusion
Aside starring in the movies, Jim Iyke also produces his own with the help of his production company. It was founded in 2007 and called “Untamed Productions”. So far, he produced two movies, which had mild success. They included some famous actresses, like Tangerine Martins and Judy Shekoni. He also participated in the production of another movie called “2 Dollaz”, which was a sequel to the successful comedy “1 dollar”. By the way, Jim Iyke also tried music, as he owns the label “Untamed Records”, under which he produced his debut album “Who Am I?”. This album featured a few famous Nigerian musicians, Sound Sultan and TuFace Idibia. However, according to Jim Iyke himself, he is not satisfied with his music career and thinks that his acting talent is much more prominent. The large part of proceedings that he got from his album was donated to the orphanages.
