Ken Costa

Ken Costa
Born	1949 (age 67–68) 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.

Ken Costa was born in South Africa circa 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.

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 the Songbird Estates, which owns 70% of Canary Wharf, replacing Khalifa Al-Kuwari.

He was Professor of Commerce at Gresham College.

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