Table of Contents
Key Points
- Adebayo Ogunlesi’s net worth rose $800 million in 2025, reaching $2.5 billion, driven by gains in his BlackRock stake.
- BlackRock, where Ogunlesi is a board member, leads a $10 billion Saudi Aramco gas infrastructure investment.
- Ogunlesi received $600 million cash and 1.82 million BlackRock shares from the $12.5 billion sale of Global Infrastructure Partners.
Nigerian billionaire Adebayo Ogunlesi has seen a sharp rise in his fortune this year, joining a number of African billionaires whose wealth has grown steadily in 2025. His investments, which include a major stake in U.S. asset management giant BlackRock, have pushed his net worth to $2.5 billion, placing him firmly among the world’s richest people.
Ogunlesi’s net worth hits $2.5 billion
According to Forbes, Ogunlesi’s wealth has climbed by $800 million since January, rising from $1.7 billion at the start of the year to $2.5 billion at the time of this report. That gain makes him the 1,531st richest person in the world, based on Forbes’ real-time billionaire rankings.
A significant part of this increase comes from the performance of his stake in BlackRock. The value of his holding has grown from $1.7 billion in January to $1.9 billion, reflecting a 10 percent year-to-date rise. The boost follows BlackRock’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the infrastructure investment fund Ogunlesi co-founded.
Ogunlesi joins BlackRock in Aramco venture
Since the acquisition, BlackRock—where Ogunlesi now sits on the board—has wasted little time pursuing new opportunities. One of its latest moves is leading a consortium in a $10 billion investment in Saudi Aramco’s Jafurah gas infrastructure. The deal, similar to other financing arrangements in the Gulf, helps oil-producing nations raise funds for broader economic plans while giving investors reliable long-term returns.
The Jafurah project, valued at about $100 billion, is poised to be the largest shale gas development outside the United States. It is a key part of Aramco’s push to increase natural gas production by 60 percent by 2030, compared with 2021 levels. BlackRock and Aramco have partnered before, including in 2021 when the firm joined other investors to acquire lease rights to Aramco’s pipeline networks in two transactions worth nearly $28 billion.
Ogunlesi holds BlackRock, OpenAI seats
Ogunlesi’s business interests extend well beyond GIP and BlackRock. As part of the GIP sale, he personally received 1,822,926 BlackRock shares and $600 million in cash. Now 71, he sits on BlackRock’s board and joined the board of OpenAI, the research group behind ChatGPT. His portfolio also includes stakes in Kosmos Energy Holdings LLC, Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp., and Goldman Sachs Group.
