The Sagamite That Bought Gatwick Airport

Meet one of Remo industrious son, Adebayo Ogunlesi of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

Barely a handful know him quite well, talkless of knowing his origin and who he is.
Sit tight, let’s tell you a little about him.

Born of prestige, class, and honor, Bayo Ogunlesi came from the prestigious family of Theophilus O. Ogunlesi, the Nigerian professor of Medicine at the University of Ibadan. Yup, Bayo Ogunlesi is the first son of the first man to become a Professor of Medicine in Nigeria, from 1965 until he retired in 1983.

Ogunlesi went to King’s College, Lagos, and then proceed to Oxford University, England where he bagged with first class honors B. A. Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In 1979, Ogunlesi received a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, which he pursued at the same time. During his time at Harvard, he was on the Harvard Law Review.

After his graduation, 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.

After his studies, Ogunlesi joined the investment bank First Boston as an advisor in 1983, on a Nigerian gas project. He became the Head of the Global Energy Group in 1997 (before it was later renamed Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB)). While working at Credit Suisse First Boston, he was a lecturer at Harvard Law School and the Yale School of Management, where he taught a course on transnational investment projects in emerging countries.

In 2002, Ogunlesi was appointed Global Head of CSFB’s Investment Banking Division. He also served as a member of Credit Suisse’s Executive Board and Management Committee in the same year. He went on to become the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer of CSFB before he started a private equity firm, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in 2006 – a joint venture whose initial investors included Credit Suisse and General Electric. He currently serves as Chairman and Managing Partner.

Bayo Ogunlesi’s company – Global Infrastructure Partners GIP bought London City Airport in the same 2006, and went on to acquire the majority of London Gatwick Airport in 2009, a deal worth £1.455 billion.
Some see him as a silent billionaire, many don’t know him. The Nigerian press has given him the nickname, “The Man Who Bought Gatwick Airport”. GIP also owns Edinburgh Airport, and Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori.

Ogunlesi was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2019, and received The International Center in New York’s Award of Excellence.

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