Adebayo 'Bayo' Ogunlesi, born on December 20, 1953, in Sagamu, Nigeria, is the scion of a distinguished Nigerian family; his father was Professor Theophilus Ogunlesi, the first Nigerian professor of medicine at the University of Ibadan. This family background provided a strong foundation in education and ambition.

Ogunlesi’s academic journey is one of the most distinguished in global finance. He attended the prestigious King's College, Lagos. He then proceeded to the UK, earning a B.A. with first-class honors in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) from Oxford University. His pursuit of knowledge continued in the US, where he received a JD (magna cum laude) from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School—a rare and demanding dual-degree achievement.

Adebayo Ogunlesi’s professional life is a trajectory of constant pioneering at the highest levels of global law and finance. His first major professional distinction came when he served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court, making him the first non-American ever to clerk at the highest U.S. court. After a stint as an attorney at the prestigious firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, he moved into investment banking at First Boston in 1983.

He spent 23 highly successful years at Credit Suisse (which acquired First Boston), rising to become the Executive Vice Chairman and Global Head of the Investment Banking Division. The defining moment of his independent career was the launch of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in 2006, a private equity firm focused on buying and operating massive, essential infrastructure assets. GIP's acquisition of major airports, including the famous London Gatwick Airport (in 2009), earned him the moniker, 'The man who bought Gatwick Airport'. This monumental career culminated in GIP's acquisition by BlackRock in a landmark $12.5 billion deal in 2024.

Adebayo Ogunlesi's social impact is driven by a deep commitment to Africa’s development and promoting access to high-level education, continuing the legacy of his academic family. He views infrastructure as essential to economic growth and poverty alleviation, making GIP’s core business model a form of social contribution.

His influence extends through intellectual and advisory roles: he has served as a lecturer at Harvard Law School and the Yale School of Management, teaching courses on 'transnational investment projects in emerging countries'. He has also served as an 'informal adviser' to Nigerian presidents on economic policy and privatization. His work and philosophy stress that the real crisis facing Africa is not capital, but 'visionary, accountable leadership', emphasizing human capital development as the highest form of impact. He is also a member of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Adebayo Ogunlesi is the quintessential global investment banker, possessing a highly sophisticated, multi-continental aesthetic. His style is defined by a sense of Nigerian dignity married to the polished, powerful look of a Wall Street titan.

His public image demands perfection: he favors impeccably tailored, dark European suits, exuding control and intellectual rigor, reflective of his dual law and business degrees. His luxury is expressed through the scale of his transactions—being the man who buys airports and ports—and his access to the most exclusive boardrooms in the world (Goldman Sachs, OpenAI). He maintains a residence in New York City with his British-born wife, Dr. Amelia Quist-Ogunlesi. This lifestyle is one of ultimate global mobility, with frequent private travel necessary to oversee GIP’s portfolio, which spans the energy, transport, and waste sectors across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.