Meet Bayo Ogunlesi, the Nigerian who Owns Gatwick Airport, in the UK
There is no way you
search for Gatwick Airport
emperorbusiness.com on the web, and not be overwhelmed when his name
pops out. He is a Nigerian, a business man, and the man who acquired Gatwick
Airport in 2009, in the United Kingdom.
Adebayo Ogunlesi, 56, is
the chairman and managing partner,
expressinfotech.com Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), an
independent investment fund based in New York City with worldwide stake in
infrastructure assets.
The acquisition of
Gatwick by his company, saw them spending a whooping £1.455 billion; an
agreement which they signed with BAA Airports Limited.
Bayo Ogunlesi, attended
the prestigious King’s College, Yaba
financetechnews.net , Lagos. He is a member of the District of
Columbia Bar Association. He was a lecturer at Harvard Law School and the Yale
School.
Ogunlesi’s father was
the first Nigerian-born medical professor, studied philosophy, politics and
economics at Oxford and then earned law and business degrees from Harvard.
He has lived in New York
for 20 years and is active in volunteer work. But he also nurtures his ties to
Africa. He informally advises the Nigerian government on privatisation.
Prior to his current
role, he was executive vice chairman and chief client officer of Credit Suisse,
based in New York. He previously served as a member of Credit Suisse’s
Executive Board and Management Council and chaired the Chairman’s Board.
Previously, he was the Global Head of Investment Banking at Credit Suisse.
Since joining Credit Suisse in 1983, Ogunlesi has advised clients on strategic
transactions and financings in a broad range of industries and has worked on
transactions in North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle
East, Africa and Asia.
In the US, he is known
as the Nigerian who clerked for late Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall,
who they say was unable to pronounce his name and quickly dubbed him
Obeedoogee.
The Company has offices
in London and New York with an affiliate in Sydney and a portfolio company
operations headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. GIP has a 75% ownership
interest in London City Airport and its other UK investments are Edinburgh
Airport and Great Yarmouth Port Company.
Although, colleagues and
close friends may call him Bayo, we in Nigeria, call him, our “Nigerian Pride”.
His story is an Inspiration to us all.
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