Did you know a Nigerian owns Gatwick Airport?

Adebayo Ogunlesi, the Nigerian entrepreneur and investor behind the private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) who owned 3 U.K. Airports with shares worth over £3B.

Adebayo's career started in Law, where he became a US attorney in corporate law before making a career switch to Investment Banking. In 1983, Ogunlesi joined investment bank First Boston.

In the span of 20 years he climbed up the corporate ladder and eventually became Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer at Credit Suisse First Boston. In 2006 he launched his private equity firm GIP in a joint venture with investors incl. Credit Suisse and General Electric.

He began acquisition of 3 UK Airports starting with London City, Gatwick, and then Edinburgh.

His firm still owns shares in Gatwick and Edinburgh worth £3B+ but sold off London City Airport in 2016 making a £1B profit.