Ken Costa


Kenneth Johann Costa, commonly known as Ken Costa, 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 on 31 October 1949. His family were farmers of Lebanese descent. He was educated at a white-only boarding school in Pretoria.
He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, where he received a bachelor's degree in Law and Philosophy in 1972. During that time, he was the President of the students' council and identified as a marxist. He was an opponent of the apartheid regime and friends with fellow anti-apartheid activists like Ahmed Timol and Steve Biko.
He went on to receive a Masters of Law Degree and a Certificate in Theology from Queens' College, Cambridge in England.

Career

Costa started his career in banking at S. G. Warburg & Co. in London in the 1980s, when he was mentored by Sir Siegmund Warburg. He joined UBS when S. G. Warburg & Co. merged with it. He eventually served as the Chairman of Europe, Middle East and Africa at UBS Investment Bank, retiring in September 2007.
He served as the Chairman of Lazard International from 2007 in 2011. He was an advisor to Mohamed Al-Fayed on his 1.5 billion sale of Harrods to the Qatari royal family.
In December 2014, he joined the Board of Directors of Songbird Estates, which owns 70% of Canary Wharf, replacing Khalifa Al-Kuwari.
He was Professor of Commerce at Gresham College and he is the dean of Leadership College London.

Christian philanthropy

He is the Chairman of Alpha International, which promotes the Alpha course. He has spoken at Holy Trinity Brompton, where he was previously 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 and Know Your Why in 2016, a book about finding and fulfilling your calling.

Political activity

Costa donated £10,000 to Jeremy Hunt during the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election. During the 2019 United Kingdom general election, he donated £25,000 to the Conservative Party.

Personal life

He has been married for thirty years.