Adebayo Ogunlesi | $1B+

Get in touch with Adebayo Ogunlesi | Adebayo "Bayo" Ogunlesi is a Nigerian-born investment banker, lawyer, and private equity executive best known as the Chairman and Managing Partner of Global Infrastructure Partners. With a career spanning Wall Street and global finance, Ogunlesi has overseen multibillion-dollar infrastructure deals, including the acquisitions of London Gatwick and Edinburgh Airports, cementing his status as a key figure in global infrastructure investment.

Adebayo "Bayo" O. Ogunlesi CON (born 20 December 1943) 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] Adebayoo Ogunlesi CON Born 20 December 1953 (age 71) Sagamu, Southern Region, (now in Ogun State, Nigeria) Education Lincoln College, Oxford Harvard Law School Harvard Business School Alma mater King's College, Lagos Occupation Investment banker Years active 1950–present Title Co-founder Chairman and CEO Global Infrastructure Partners Spouse Amelia Quist-Ogunlesi (m. 1985) Children 2 Parent Oladipo Ogunlesi Contents Early life and education edit Ogunlesi hails from Makun, Sagamu, Ogun State, 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 edit 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 a majority stake 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 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 chief executive Ogunlesi, will join BlackRock as part of the deal.[15][16] Additional work edit 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. In January 2025, Ogunlesi joined the board of directors of OpenAI.[20] Personal life edit Ogunlesi has been married to British-born optometrist Dr. Amelia Quist-Ogunlesi since 1985.[21] They have two children.[22] In his song "Wonderful," Burna Boy pays tribute to Adebayo, citing his hard work.[23] As of 2025, Forbes estimates his net worth at US$2.4 billion. Awards and honors edit Recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.[24] Ogunlesi was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2019.[25] Works and publications edit 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)

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