Ken Costa
| Ken Costa | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1949 (age 65–66) South Africa |
| Residence | London |
| Alma mater |
University of the Witwatersrand Queens' College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Banker |
Ken Costa (born c. 1949) is a London-based South African banker and Christian philanthropist. He served as the Chairman of Lazard from 2007 to 2011.
Early life
Ken Costa was born in South Africa circa 1949.[1] His family were farmers of Lebanese descent.[2] He was educated at a white-only boarding school in Pretoria.[2]
He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, where he received a Bachelor's degree in Law and Philosophy in 1972.[3] During that time, he was the President of the students' council and identified as a marxist.[2] He was an opponent of the apartheid regime and friends with fellow anti-apartheid activists like Ahmed Timol and Steve Biko.[2]
He went on to receive a Masters of Law Degree and a Certificate in Theology from Queens' College, Cambridge in England.[3] He converted to Christianity in Cambridge.[2]
Career
Costa started his career in finance at S. G. Warburg & Co. in London in the 1980s, when he was mentored by Sir Siegmund George Warburg.[2] He joined UBS when S. G. Warburg & Co. merged with it.[2][4] He eventually served as the Chairman of Europe, Middle East and Africa at UBS, retiring in September 2007.[4][5]
He served as the Chairman of Lazard from 2007 in 2011.[1][4][6] He was an advisor to Mohamed Al-Fayed on his 1.5 billion sale of Harrods to the Qatari royal family.[6]
In December 2014, he joined the Board of Directors of the Songbird Estates, which owns 70% of Canary Wharf, replacing Khalifa Al-Kuwari.[4][6][7]
He has lectured at Gresham College.[8]
Christian philanthropy
He is the Chairman of Alpha International, which promotes the Alpha course.[6] He has spoken at Holy Trinity Brompton,[9] where he is also a church warden, and also at New Wine. He is the author of God At Work, a 2007 book about Christianity's relationship to the workplace.[2][10]
Personal life
He has been married for thirty years.[2]
References
- 1 2 Liam Vaughan, Ken Costa Quits Lazard, The Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2011
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Michael Skapinker, Lunch with the FT: Ken Costa, Financial Times, February 1, 2008
- 1 2 Ken Costa, Bloomberg Business
- 1 2 3 4 Claer Barrett, Kate Allen and Arash Massoudi, Qataris appoint Ken Costa to Songbird Estates board, Financial Times, December 11, 2014
- ↑ Katherine Griffiths, Ken Costa leaves UBS to join rival Lazard, The Daily Telegraph, 07 September 2007
- 1 2 3 4 Kasmira Jefford, Qatari hires veteran banker Ken Costa to board of Songbird, City A.M., 12 December 2014
- ↑ Russell Lynch, Qatar appoints Ken Costa to Songbird board as battle for Canary Wharf takes new twist, The Independent, 11 December 2014
- ↑ Gresham College: Professor Kenneth Costa
- ↑ Holy Trinity Brompton: Ken Costa
- ↑ Michael J. De La Merced, Ken Costa, Senior Lazard Banker, Quits, The New York Times, March 29, 2011