J aime Gilinski Bacal is a prominent Colombian billionaire with a highly successful career in banking and real estate. He is one of the most powerful and influential financiers in Latin America. After earning an MBA from Harvard, he worked as an investment banker before returning to Colombia to build his own business empire. He has made his fortune by acquiring and turning around struggling financial institutions.

His most significant deals include the acquisition and later highly profitable sale of Banco de Colombia, and the creation of GNB Sudameris, a major banking conglomerate with operations across Latin America. He has also been the driving force behind a major and ambitious real estate development project, Panama Pacifico, a massive mixed-use development on the site of a former U.S. Air Force base in Panama. More recently, he has been involved in a high-profile and aggressive takeover battle for control of Grupo Nutresa, a major Colombian food company.