U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named a Nigerian, Adebayo Ogunlesi, as a member of an advisory council that will help the incoming president implement “his plan to bring back jobs and Make America Great Again.”
Ogunlesi is the Chairman and Managing Partner, Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm with more than $35bn in assets under management. He has investments worldwide in infrastructure assets in the energy, transport, and water and waste industry sectors.
Ogunlesi, who is also a board member at Goldman Sachs, joins some of America’s most highly respected and successful business leaders in the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum, which “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”, Blackstone said in a statement.
“This forum brings together CEOs and business leaders who know what it takes to create jobs and drive economic growth,” said President-elect Trump.
“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.”
The first meeting of the Forum will be held at The White House during the first week of February.
Other 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; and Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO, BlackRock.
Others are 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; and Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize-winner, Vice Chairman of IHS Markit.
The Forum will be chaired by Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Blackstone.
Sesan Adeola