Teniola Esan

(Preferred name: Ten)

Imperial College Business SchoolImperial College Business School

“Goal-oriented, disciplined leader-in-training, seeking to grow and promote sustainable business through wealth management.”

Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria

Fun Fact About Yourself: At age 15, my brother and I formed a rock band and put out a few songs that became hits and landed us an endorsement deal with Nokia.

Undergraduate School and Major: Faculty of Law, University of Benin *Majored in Business Law

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: I most recently served as the General Counsel to a Royal Family in West Africa with a Private Real Estate holding valued at over $2 billion dollars.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Imperial’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school? Why was it so important to you? Imperial means Innovation and Sustainability. The world is fast-changing, and I wanted an MBA education that is designed to keep pace with a fast-changing world. Beyond just a brand identity as one of the most innovative business schools in the world, I realised that this ethos of innovation and sustainability was deeply ingrained in the culture and reflected in the entire school community.

When I first came into contact with the Imperial alumni community in my home country, I noticed that most of them were at the forefront in very innovative companies and industries, and this really made an impression on me. They were facing global issues with a sense of clarity and purpose, and leading conversations that weren’t even mainstream yet in the business environment where I was, covering issues such as climate change and corporate sustainability. I wanted to be a part of that.

What club or extracurricular activity excites you most at this school

I am the President of the Africa Business Club. At a time where diversity is a mainstream conversation, that is really exciting for me because I feel there is a lot we can do as a club to genuinely contribute to the conversation (in a non-political way.) The committee and I are equally thrilled at the opportunity to lay out a new paradigm with a strategy we have tagged Africa 2.0 which we hope will be a blueprint for other regional clubs to model themselves on, while also creating value for minorities and people of color. This is particularly true in industries where minorities are largely underrepresented such as global wealth management. I am also very excited about the Student Investment Fund for aspiring wealth managers to have hands on experience in equity research and portfolio management. I believe there is a lot I can contribute to this unit from my experience as an asset manager.

What makes London such a great place to earn an MBA? How have you taken advantage of London to further your business education? London is one of the major commercial centres of the world, and is undoubtedly one of the most exciting places to live and work. So earning an MBA in London comes with obvious perks of being at the centre of global business. The location of Imperial College is incredibly strategic as it is a stone’s throw away from the financial district. But it’s not all work; there is so much to do, so many places to go, and so much to see. It’s exciting and exhilarating. I haven’t seen much yet because of the COVID situation, but I am eager to take it all in.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment in my career so far is joining in the ringing of the closing bell of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on 24 of October 2019 (a few days after I turned 30.) I had this inestimable honour after proposing an initiative for the engagement of millennials in capital market operations in Nigeria to a panel consisting of top brokers, traders, fund managers and pension managers in Nigeria.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? There were two key reasons. First of all, it was having had a wealth of experience in various industries ranging from entrepreneurship to legal services, project management and asset management, I felt it was time to bring these experiences together in a cohesive fashion by tracing my personal leadership journey through these roles. Secondly, I wanted to both strengthen my finance skillset and be at the forefront of modern trends; facing global issues armed with world-class expertise.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? My defining moment was in 2016 when my first startup venture failed due to changing tides in the macro-economic space. Having always assumed that business was merely a matter of passion and technical know-how, this experience opened my eyes to the need to understand the complexities of the business environment and its impact on enterprise. So began my foray into financial research and the asset management industry.

DON’T MISS: MEET IMPERIAL COLLEGE’S MBA CLASS OF 2021