Who is the Colombian billionaire taking a high stakes punt on Metro Bank?

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Three years after first building a stake in Metro Bank, the 65-year-old has emerged as a white knight for the UK high street lender.

Article originally published by The Guardian. Hargreaves Lansdown is not responsible for its content or accuracy and may not share the author's views. News and research are not personal recommendations to deal. All investments can fall in value so you could get back less than you invest.

Published by

10 Oct 2023

The Colombian banking tycoon Jaime Gilinski Bacal is known for taking a gamble. Now one of the wealthiest people in Latin America, worth a reported $5.3bn (£4.3bn), Bacal built his name snapping up the assets of struggling lenders on the cheap, turning around their fortunes and selling them on for a big profit.

“There is a moment in life when you have to take all of the risk, just put all of the cards on the table,” Bacal has said, according to Forbes.

And take a risk, he did. Three years after first building a stake in Metro Bank, the 65-year-old has emerged as a white knight for the UK high street lender, scooping up more than £100m of shares to build a 53% controlling stake.

He learned a trick or two watching his father, Isaac, build up big companies, including the Latin American snack food maker Yupi and the plastics business Rimax. Later, the Georgia Tech and Harvard business school alumni got a taste for