Adebayo Ogunlesi

CON
Portrait of Adebayo Ogunlesi
Born (1953-12-20) 20 December 1953
Sagamu, Southern Region, British Nigeria (now in Ogun State, Nigeria)
Education
Alma materKing's College, Lagos
OccupationInvestment banker
Years active1980–present
EmployerGlobal Infrastructure Partners
Spouse
Amelia Quist-Ogunlesi
​
​
(m. 1985)​
Children2
ParentOladipo Ogunlesi

Adebayo "Bayo" O. Ogunlesi CON (born 20 December 1953) is a Nigerian lawyer and investment banker.[1][2] He is currently chairman and managing partner at the private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). Ogunlesi was the former head of global investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston[3] before being promoted to chief client officer and executive vice chairman.[4]

Early life and education

Ogunlesi hails from Makun, Sagamu, Ogun State in Nigeria. He is the son of Theophilus O. Ogunlesi,[5] the first Nigerian professor of medicine at University of Ibadan.[6] His family is of Yoruba origin.

Ogunlesi went to King's College, Lagos, a secondary school in Lagos, Nigeria. He received a B.A. with first class honors in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University in England. In 1979, Ogunlesi received a JD–MBA from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School.[1][7] During his time at Harvard, he was on the Harvard Law Review.[6]

Career

From 1980 to 1981, Ogunlesi served as a law clerk to associate justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. Ogunlesi was an attorney in the corporate practice group of the New York City law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where he had been a summer associate while studying for his M.B.A.[1]

In 1983, Ogunlesi joined the investment bank First Boston as an advisor on a Nigerian gas project.[2] At First Boston, he worked in the Project Finance Group, advising clients on transactions and financings and has worked on transactions in North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. From 1997 to 2002, he was the Head of the Global Energy Group of the by then renamed Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). In 2002, Ogunlesi was appointed Global Head of CSFB's Investment Banking Division.[2] Also in 2002, he served as a member of Credit Suisse's Executive Board and Management Committee.[8] From 2004 to 2006, Ogunlesi was Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer of CSFB.[9]

In July 2006, Ogunlesi started the private equity firm, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a joint venture whose initial investors included Credit Suisse and General Electric. He currently serves as chairman and managing partner.[10]

In 2006, GIP bought London City Airport.[11] In 2009, GIP acquired the majority in London Gatwick Airport in a deal worth £1.455 billion.[12] The Nigerian press has given him the nickname, "The Man Who Bought Gatwick Airport."[6] GIP also owns Edinburgh Airport, which they bought in 2012,[13] and Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, which they bought in February 2018.[14]

In January 2024, BlackRock agreed to buy Adebayo Ogunlesi’s Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12.5 billion. BlackRock will pay $3 billion in cash and 12 million of its own shares as part of the deal to buy GIP. The 400 people directly employed by GIP will receive some of the stock and five of the six founding partners, including the chief executive, Adebayo Ogunlesi, will join BlackRock as part of the deal.[15][16]

Additional work

Ogunlesi is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association. While working at Credit Suisse First Boston, he was a lecturer at Harvard Law School and the Yale School of Management,[1] where he taught a course on transnational investment projects in emerging countries.[17]

In October 2012, he was appointed to the board of directors at Goldman Sachs.[11] On 24 July 2014, he was named lead director.[8][18]

In December 2016, it was announced that Ogunlesi, among other business leaders, would be part of Donald Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum,[19][10] which was disbanded on 16 August 2017.

Personal life

Ogunlesi has been married to British-born optometrist Dr. Amelia Quist-Ogunlesi since 1985.[20] They have two children.[21] In his song "Wonderful," Burna Boy pays tribute to Adebayo, citing his hard work.[22]

Awards and honors

Recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.[23] Ogunlesi was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2019.[24]

Works and publications

  • Ogunlesi, Adebayo (1979). The Basic Human Needs Approach to Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law School. OCLC 81062298. Submitted to: Professor C. Clyde Ferguson, Jr. [for the] Seminar: Legal Problems of the New International Economics Order (Harvard third year paper)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sorkin, Andrew Ross (14 March 2002). "Accidental Investment Banker Shakes Up Credit Suisse Unit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Gregory, Sean (2 December 2002). "2002 Global Influentials. Adebayo Ogunlesi: CSFB's Global-Banking Chief. His Road from Nigerian Doctor's Son to Wall Street Boss Has Crossed Oil Fields, the Supreme Court and a Rifle or Two". Time. Archived from the original on 30 May 2007.
  3. ↑ McFadden, Jeanmarie; Pendleton, Pen (20 February 2002). "CSFB Names Tony James Chairman of Global Investment Banking and Private Equity". Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2007.
  4. ↑ Reed, K. Terrell (1 November 2004). "CSFB Repositions Top Exec". Black Enterprise. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  5. ↑ Sean (13 July 2016). "Nigeria's first Professor of Medicine, Theophilus Ogunlesi celebrates 93rd Birthday". Daily Mail, Nigeria. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "The Man Who Bought Gatwick Airport - Ventures Africa". Ventures Africa. 26 May 2012. Archived from the original on 8 December 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  7. ↑ Fungayi Tichawona Kapungu; Kaniaru Wacieni (13 December 2004). "Adebayo Ogunlesi (HBS '79) honored by Harvard African Alumni". The Harbus. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2007. Mr. Adebayo O. Ogunlesi (HLS/HBS '79), was honored by the Harvard African Students' Alumni Network ... for "consistent and superior performance in his professional career.
  8. 1 2 "Board of Directors - Adebayo O. Ogunlesi, Lead Director". Goldman Sachs. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "More Management Changes at First Boston". The New York Times. Bloomberg News. 19 August 2004. Archived from the original on 28 May 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  10. 1 2 "President-elect Trump Establishes the President's Strategic and Policy Forum" (PDF). Global Infrastructure Partners. New York, NY. 3 December 2016. Archived from the original (Press Release) on 15 December 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  11. 1 2 Nsehe, Mfonobong (16 October 2012). "Goldman Sachs Appoints Nigerian Banker To Its Board". Forbes. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  12. ↑ Wray, Richard; Wearden, Graeme (21 October 2009). "Gatwick to get upgrade after £1.5bn sale". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  13. ↑ Scott, Mark (23 April 2012). "Investment Fund to Pay $1.3 Billion for Edinburgh Airport". DealBook, The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  14. ↑ "Italo shareholders accept GIP's improved takeover offer, scrap IPO plans | Reuters". Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  15. ↑ Brush, Silla (12 January 2024). "BlackRock Buys Infrastructure Firm GIP for $12.5 Billion in Major Alternatives Push". Bloomberg. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  16. ↑ Lawson, Alex (12 January 2024). "Sale of UK assets to world's largest money manager means huge payday for bankers". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  17. ↑ "The Africa-America Institute". Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
  18. ↑ Alden, William (25 July 2014). "Goldman Sachs Names Ogunlesi New Lead Director". DealBook, The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  19. ↑ "Breaking: Trump appoints Nigerian Ogunlesi member of his economic team". Vanguard News. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  20. ↑ "Adebayo O Ogunlesi mentioned in the record of Quist and Adebayo O Ogunlesi". FamilySearch. September 1985. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  21. ↑ "Board of Directors Biographies: Amelia Quist-Ogunlesi". Lighthouse International. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  22. ↑ "As I dey hustle like Adebayo Ogunlesi". Genius. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  23. ↑ "Adebayo O. Ogunlesi, JD – Page 2 – Nigerian British Awards". Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  24. ↑ Africa, Ventures (9 October 2019). "Top 10 Nigerians in Africa Report's 100 most influential Africans". Ventures Africa. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
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