Adebayo Ogunlesi is notable for being a Nigerian influential lawyer and investment banker whose net worth is estimated at $5 billion. A man whose life started as a young boy in Ogun State, Nigeria has rounded the world working in the US, Europe, and Asia.
He is a Managing Partner and Chairman of an infrastructure investment fund making equity, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). Also, Ogunlesi served as the Head of the Global Energy Group as well as Cravath, Swaine & Moore law firm. The lawyer is also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Harvard Business School.
Summary of Adebayo Ogunlesi’s Personal Profile
- Full Name: Adebayo O. Ogunlesi
- Nickname: Bayo
- Date of birth: 20 December 1953
- Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
- Place of birth: Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria
- Parents: Theophilus O. Ogunlesi
- Nationality: Nigerian
- Ethnicity: Yoruba
- Religion: Christianity
- Sexuality: Straight
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse: Dr. Amelia Quist-Ogunlesi
- Children: 2
- Education: King’s College, Lagos; Oxford University, Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School
The International CEO Hails from a Well-known Family
The investment banker was born Adebayo Ogunlesi on 20 December 1953 in one of the 13 towns of Sagamu, Makun in Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria.
He hails from a very notable Nigerian family, Ogunlesi. He was born into one of the three prominent Ogunlesi families from the Makun clan.
His grandfather Daniel Ogunlesi was a blacksmith from the section of the Makun clan known as “Ogunlesi Alagbede”. He was a Christian who wanted his children to go to school. This has contributed in making his descendants highly educated and successful in different fields.
More into his family, his relative Joseph Ogunlesi founded the Broadway Chemists in 1949. The company is the first renowned chemist and druggist in Nigeria.
Furthermore, Adebayo is the nephew of the late Mrs. Victoria Abimbola Onafowokan, a Nigerian renowned educationist. She was the chairman of the Board of Governors of the renowned Queens College, Lagos among other positions.
His Father is the First Professor of Medicine at the Oldest University in Nigeria
Prof. Theophilus O. Ogunlesi is Adebayo Ogunlesi’s father. The 1923-born became the first professor of Medicine at University of Ibadan, Oyo State IN 1965.
His appointment led to his taking over after pioneer professors Alexander Brown and three others who were seconded from Britain when Ibadan was to host an Annex of the University College of London in 1948.
Adebayo’s Siblings
The lawyer and businessman are one of 7 siblings. He has 4 brothers and 2 sisters.
The children were born to Theophilus and Susan Ogunlesi who married in 1950, 3 years before the birth of Adebayo.
His siblings have maintained more private lives.
His Childhood and Education
Ogunlesi was raised in a Christian home and attended King’s College, Lagos. From there, he went to Oxford University, England where he obtained a B.A with first-class honors in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics in 1979.
Subsequently, he concurrently attended Havard Law School and Harvard Business School where he obtained a J.D. magna cum laude and an M.B.A respectively.
Who is Adebayo Ogunlesi’s Wife?
The businessman cum investor is married to a British retired optometrist, Dr. Amelia Quist-Ogunlesi with whom he shares two sons.
Amelia is a graduate of London’s City University and the Suny College of Optometry.
She sits on the board of organizations such as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, The Central Park Conservancy, The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Partnership to End Addiction.
How Rich is He?
Adebayo’s net worth is estimated at $5 billion. There are further claims on the internet that the businessman’s net worth could be as much as $45 billion. Since there is acknowledgment or denouncement from the businessman, what is available on the internet is only an estimation based on how far his career has reached.
Whatever the case, he is one of the richest Nigerians in the United States.
Here is how he has recorded his net worth.
He Began Earning From His Career as a Lawyer
A year after he graduated from Harvard Law School, Adebayo started a job as a Law Clerk to Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court in 1980.
He also took another job as a lawyer at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
His Career as a Banker in 1983
At the age of 30 and after working in the law segment, Ogunlesi started his career as an advisor on a Nigerian gas project.
At the time, he worked on transactions on almost all continents.
In 1997, he became the head of the Global Energy Group. 5 years later in 2002, he became the Global Head of the global investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and also served on the bank’s executive board and management committee.
He also served as an Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer of CSFB.
Ade Ogunlesi is a Managing Partner and Chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners
In 2006, the American-Nigerian equity expert started a private joint venture known as Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The venture is an equity firm with Credit Suisse and General Electric as partners.
With the firm whose headquarters is in New York, Ogunlesi serves as a Managing Partner and Chairman.
At the time of this writing, GIP’s assets under management is $75 billion.
As the chair of the company, GIP bought London City Airport which is located at the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham. The company also bought Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, England. This would lead to his being nicknamed “The Man Who Bought Gatwick”.
Moreso, GIP bought Edinburgh Airport in Edinburgh, England as well as an Italian open-access train operating company, Nuovo Transporto Viaggiatori.
Away from this, he became a Lead Director at Goldman Sachs in 2012. This organization offers financial services across investment banking, securities, investment management and consumer banking to organizations and individuals.
Other Key Things He has been involved in
- He was a lecturer at Harvard Law School and Yale School of Management
- He was a part of Donald Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum
- Adebayo has held several positions as a board member of the following companies
- Kosmos Energy Ltd
- Callaway Golf Co
- Partnership for New York City Fund
- Americans in Oxford
- NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc
Summary of Adebayo’s Career that Has Contributed to His Net Worth
- He serves as the Chairman and Managing Partner of Global Infrastructure Partners (from 2006)
- Ogunlesi has a career as a Chairman and Managing Partner of Global Infrastructure Management LLC
- Head: Global Investment Banking, Credit Suisse AG (2002-2004)