Adebayo Ogunlesi built his fortune through a long banking career and by cofounding Global Infrastructure Partners, which became a major infrastructure investor before BlackRock acquired it in 2024. [1][2][3]
Banking and infrastructure investing
Ogunlesi was born in Nigeria, studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford, then earned both law and business degrees at Harvard. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and worked at Cravath before moving into investment banking. [1][2]
He spent 23 years at Credit Suisse and rose to lead its global investment banking division. In 2006 he left to cofound Global Infrastructure Partners, focusing on large transport, energy, digital and other essential infrastructure assets. [1][3]
GIP grew into a large global infrastructure manager and was acquired by BlackRock in 2024 in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $12.5 billion. Ogunlesi remained chairman and chief executive of GIP and joined BlackRock as a senior managing director, with his founder stake in GIP forming the core of his billionaire wealth. [2][3][1]
The $12.5 billion BlackRock transaction describes the value of GIP as a business, not cash that became Ogunlesi's personal wealth. His economic outcome depended on the founder interest he actually owned and the mix of consideration received by GIP's owners, so enterprise transaction value and his individual fortune should remain distinct. [2][3]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 15, 2026.
- Adebayo Ogunlesi · BlackRock
- Adebayo Ogunlesi · Forbes · Jul 15, 2026
- Forbes BLK 50 2024 · Forbes · Dec 19, 2024
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