Sunday 4 December 2016

President-Elect Donald Trump Appoints Nigerian Businessman Into His Cabinet

The Nigerian media is excited: President-elect, Donald Trump, has appointed Nigeria’s Adebayo Ogunlesi into his administration’s strategic policy and policy forum. Trump intends to meet with this ‘economic team’ from time to time.

On 3rd December 2016, President-elect Donald J. Trump announced that he is establishing the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum. The Forum, which is composed of some of America’s most highly respected and successful business leaders, will be called upon to meet with the President frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as the President implements his plan to bring back jobs and Make America Great Again. The Forum will be chaired by Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Blackstone. A Nigerian born and businessman Adebayo “Bayo” Ogunlesi who manages assets worth over $35 Billion was appointed into Trump's cabinet.



President-elect Trump said, “This forum brings together CEOs and business leaders who know what it takes to create jobs and drive economic growth,” “My administration is committed to drawing on private sector expertise and cutting the government red tape that is holding back our businesses from hiring, innovating, and expanding right here in America.”

 Members of the Forum will be charged with providing their individual views to the President – informed by their unique vantage points in the private sector – on how government policy impacts economic growth, job creation, and productivity. The Forum is designed to provide direct input to the President from many of the best and brightest in the business world in a frank, non-bureaucratic, and non-partisan manner.

The first meeting of the Forum will be held at The White House during the first week of February.
The members of the Forum include:

  • Stephen A. Schwarzman (Forum Chairman), Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Blackstone;
  • Paul Atkins, CEO, Patomak Global Partners, LLC, Former Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission;
  • Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO, General Motors;
  • Toby Cosgrove, CEO, Cleveland Clinic;
  • Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co;
  • Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO, BlackRock;
  • Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company;
  • Rich Lesser, President and CEO, Boston Consulting Group;
  • Doug McMillon, President and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.;
  • Jim McNerney, Former Chairman, President, and CEO, Boeing;
  • Adebayo “Bayo” Ogunlesi, Chairman and Managing Partner, Global Infrastructure Partners;
  • Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President, and CEO, IBM;
  • Kevin Warsh, Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics, Hoover Institute, Former Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;
  • Mark Weinberger, Global Chairman and CEO, EY;
  • Jack Welch, Former Chairman and CEO, General Electric;
  • Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize-winner, Vice Chairman of IHS Markit;
Adebayo “Bayo” Ogunlesi, Chairman and Managing Partner, Global Infrastructure Partners.  
Bayo Ogunlesi is Chairman and Managing Partner of Global Infrastructure Management, LLC, which is a private equity firm with more than $35 billion in assets under management and invests worldwide in infrastructure assets in the energy, transport, and water and waste industry sectors. Prior to founding Global Infrastructure Management, Mr. Ogunlesi spent 23 years at Credit Suisse where he held senior positions, including Executive Vice Chairman, Chief Client Officer, and Global Head of Investment Banking. Mr. Ogunlesi serves as a member of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs, Kosmos Energy, and Callaway Golf Co. Mr. Ogunlesi holds a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, he was an attorney with the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. From 1980 to 1981, he served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Thurgood Marshall, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.


 Business mogul, Donald Trump, Business Cabinet, US Government, US Business