Latest news with #AdebayoOgunlesi
Korea Herald
09-05-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
GIP–BlackRock Discusses a Strategic Partnership with "CP–True IDC" to Strengthen Thailand's Digital Infrastructure and Build a Regional Giga Data Center Hub
BANGKOK, May 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Thailand has once again gained strong confidence from leading global investors, as a high-level delegation from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP)—a major infrastructure investment group under BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset managers—paid an official visit to Thailand. The delegation was led by Mr. Adebayo Ogunlesi, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of GIP, and Senior Managing Director at BlackRock. During the visit, Mr. Ogunlesi met with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to discuss investment opportunities and collaboration in Thailand's digital infrastructure. Joining the discussion were Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO of Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), and executives from True IDC, who shared their vision and reaffirmed the Thai private sector's readiness to elevate the country as a regional hub for technology and AI. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra warmly welcomed the delegation and expressed her commitment to facilitating private sector infrastructure investments with greater ease, speed, and transparency. The PM also affirmed the government's willingness to support collaboration between the private sector and academic institutions to develop knowledge and human capital, ultimately strengthening the foundation for Thailand's digital economy and data center industry. Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO of CP Group, stated, "Thailand holds tremendous potential to become the digital and AI hub of ASEAN. We are now entering the Giga Data Center era—facilities designed to support gigawatt-scale energy demands and handle high-intensity workloads, tailored to meet the needs of global technology companies investing in Thailand. CP Group is fully committed to working with international partners such as GIP and the Thai government to elevate the country's digital infrastructure, promote human capital development, and support research and development initiatives. These efforts can transform Thailand into a center for education and innovation, delivering long-term benefits to future generations." Mr. Adebayo Ogunlesi, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of GIP, and Senior Managing Director at BlackRock, remarked, "GIP operates across more than 100 countries and has deep expertise in delivering world-class infrastructure projects, including airports, ports, power systems, renewable energy, and data center networks—core systems that underpin long-term digital economic growth. We believe in Thailand's strategic importance in Southeast Asia, supported by its advantageous geography, infrastructure, energy resources, and human capital—all of which are conducive to sustainable development. GIP's investment in Thailand is not merely a business opportunity; it is a strategic partnership aimed at building a stable, secure, and sustainable digital ecosystem and laying a new foundation for the regional digital economy." A key highlight of this visit is GIP–BlackRock's plan to collaborate with local partners on a major digital infrastructure investment in Thailand valued between USD 3–5 billion (approximately THB 105–175 billion), with a primary focus on data centers. This investment will significantly enhance Thailand's capabilities in supporting advanced technology workloads such as AI, Big Data, and Cloud Services. It is expected to generate substantial employment in the engineering and technology sectors while positioning Thailand as a stronger competitor in the modern global economy. Regionally, Southeast Asia is emerging as a new growth hub for the data center market, with forecasts predicting market value to reach USD 3.81 billion from 2024 to 2029, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8%, driven by edge computing, AI adoption, and broad cloud usage. Thailand's data center market alone is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5%–8.5% over the next three years. This marks a pivotal opportunity for Thailand to become a key technology hub with a central role in ASEAN's economic ecosystem. The visit of GIP–BlackRock to Thailand marks the beginning of a significant strategic alliance. It brings together the vision of the government, leading Thai industry players, and global investors to lay the foundation for future innovation—with Thailand leading the way toward a new regional direction in the era of digital economies driven by intelligent infrastructure.
Forbes
03-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The 10 Most Popular Industries For Billionaires 2025
Want to join the three-comma-club? There are countless ways to get there, be it bubble tea, comedy, or bringing back the woolly mammoth. But working in finance was still the most common route onto Forbes' World's Billionaires list in 2025. The most common route, for the 11th-straight year? Finance and investments. The industry has the most billionaires of all, with 464, or 15% of the list. And they posted another strong annual return, adding 41 new members, and some $400 billion in wealth, since last year. In all, these money masters are worth $2.6 trillion in all. Newcomers include venture capitalist Theresia Gouw (estimated net worth: $1.1 billion), private equity mogul Adebayo Ogunlesi ($2.2 billion) and George Raymond Zage III ($1.2 billion), who took LGBTQ social networking app Grindr public through a blank-check company in 2022. Warren Buffett, the 94-year-old Oracle Of Omaha, is still the sector's richest person by far, with an estimated $154 billion fortune (up $21 billion since last year amid yet another rise in Berkshire Hathaway stock). Then there's the tech industry, which ranks second, with 401 billionaires, accounting for 13% of this year's list. That includes Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, who is worth an estimated $216 billion (up $39 billion since last year) and ranks as the list's runner-up for the first time ever, trailing only Tesla's Elon Musk ($342 billion), who Forbes classifies as primarily an automotive billionaire. Awash in VC money and investor delirium for all things AI, no group has gotten richer (adding $600 billion) or gained more billionaires (46) than the planet's tech moguls. As a group, they're the wealthiest of all, worth a collective $3.2 trillion. Newcomers include Severin Hacker ($1.1 billion), cofounder and CTO of language learning app Duolingo; Marissa Mayer ($1 billion), the first female engineer at Google and former Yahoo CEO; and the world's youngest self-made billionaire, 28-year-old Scale AI cofounder and CEO Alexandr Wang ($2 billion). Manufacturing comes in third, with 342 billionaires, accounting for 11% of this year's ranking. The group is worth $1.1 trillion (up $100 million since last year), and the sector's richest person is still Germany's Reinhold Wuerth, with an estimated $35.1 billion fortune from fasteners and screws. No one from the industry gained more than Nigerian cement and sugar mogul Aliko Dangote, who is worth $23.9 billion (up $10.5 billion since last year). Among the sector's 33 newcomers: Chinese vaping mogul Zhang Shengwei ($2.2 billion) and Swiss hearing aid tycoon Hans-Ueli Rihs ($1.8 billion). Rounding out the top four is fashion and retail, where 297 individuals made their billions, accounting for 10% of this year's list. Altogether, they're worth $2 trillion, up $100 million from last year. That's despite the industry's richest person, LVMH's Bernard Arnault of France ($178 billion), losing $55 billion in wealth amid what his luxury goods giant has called 'a challenging economic and geopolitical environment' for the sector. Even with these headwinds, 16 newcomers from the industry still found their way onto this year's list, including Danny Harris and Marco DeGeorge ($4.7 billion each), the cofounders of clothing brand Alo Yoga; Chinese gold and jewelry mogul Xu Gaoming ($8.2 billion); and Saudi grocery store and mall tycoon Abdullah Al Othaim ($2.5 billion). Richest: Vagit Alekperov ($28.7 billion), founder of Russian oil giant Lukoil. Richest: Rupert Murdoch & family ($23 billion), founder and chairman emeritus of News Corp., one of the world's largest media conglomerates. Richest: Harry Triguboff ($19.1 billion), founder, owner and managing director of Meriton, Australia's largest apartment developer. Richest: Mukesh Ambani ($92.5 billion), chairman of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, which holds interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, retail, telecommunications, media and financial services. Richest: Zhong Shanshan ($57.7 billion), founder and chairman of Chinese bottled water company Nongfu Spring. Richest: Thomas Frist Jr. & family ($27 billion), cofounder and chairman emeritus HCA Healthcare, which operates the largest hospital network by capacity in the U.S. Richest: Bernard Arnault & family ($178 billion), chairman and CEO of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. Richest: Reinhold Wuerth & family ($35.1 billion), honorary chairman of screw and fastener maker Wuerth Group. Richest: Mark Zuckerberg ($216 billion), cofounder and CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook). Richest: Warren Buffett ($154 billion), chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
