Kristofer Madu
Kristofer Madu | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kristofer C. Madu Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Citizenship | United States Jamaica Nigeria |
| Education | Johns Hopkins University (BA) Johns Hopkins SAIS (MA) |
| Occupations | Private Equity Investor Entrepreneur |
Kristofer C. Madu is an American private equity investor.[1][2][3] Madu is an investor at TPG Inc., where he focuses on technology investments.[4] He is also the founder of First Friday's Group, a technology company.[5]
Early life and education
Madu was born in Nashville, Tennessee to a Jamaican mother and a Nigerian father.[2][3] He spent much of his childhood in Kingston, Jamaica, before returning to the United States for secondary schooling.[6][7]
Madu attended Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts, and later a Master's in International Economics from Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).[8]
Career
Finance
Madu began his career at Morgan Stanley in the Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) practice, where he worked on transactions including Novo Holdings' $16.5 billion[9] acquisition of Catalent, AbbVie's $10.1 billion[10] acquisition of ImmunoGen, and Uber's $2.25 billion[11] acquisition of Transplace.[2]
Madu then joined TPG Inc. as a private equity investor focusing on technology investments. At TPG, he worked on TPG's $7.6 billion[12][13] acquisition of DirecTV from AT&T.[1]
In January 2026, Madu was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Finance category.[4]
Entrepreneurship
In 2018, Madu founded technology company First Friday's Group.[14] The company partnered with Red Bull on a series of events, and was selected to represent the United States at the Red Bull Basement Global Workshop in Toronto, Canada in 2019.[15][16]
Music career
Prior to finance, Madu began his career as a recording artist. Under the stage name Travis Karter, Madu released multiple albums and singles.[7] His debut music video featured an appearance from Ky-Mani Marley and was distributed on national television in Jamaica.[17][18]
Philanthropy
In 2015, Madu founded Water Is The Answer, a nonprofit organization that funded the construction of wells and boreholes to provide clean drinking water in communities across Nigeria.[6][7] The organization was funded primarily through proceeds from his music career and merchandise.[6][19][20]
In 2025, Madu founded When We Grow Up, a nonprofit that partners with underfunded schools to provide youth from lower-income backgrounds with mentorship and resources to access careers in medicine, law, finance, and technology.[13][1]
References
- ^ a b c "He went from rap dreams to private equity. Now he wants to open investment doors for kids of color". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ a b c "Jamaican makes Forbes '30 under 30 Finance' list". JAMAICA OBSERVER. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ a b "Kristofer Madu moves to make young people become investors". Vanguard. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ a b "Kristofer Madu". Forbes. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ Gessner, Juliana (November 26, 2019). "These cofounders provide a platform for local artists. Now, it's their turn to perform on a global stage". Technical.ly. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ a b c Wallach, Rachel (February 7, 2019). "Kristofer Madu, hip-hop humanitarian". The Hub. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ a b c Lyew, Stephanie (April 24, 2019). "Kristofer Madu has a mission and the music for it". The Gleaner. Jamaica. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ "Advancing My Career". Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. August 25, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ Constantino, Annika Kim (2024-02-05). "Novo Nordisk parent to buy Catalent for $16.5 billion to expand Wegovy supply". CNBC. Retrieved 2026-03-06.
- ^ "AbbVie to Pay $10.1 Billion for Drugmaker ImmunoGen". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2025-07-23. Retrieved 2026-03-06.
- ^ Korosec, Kirsten (2021-07-22). "Uber Freight acquires Transplace for $2.25B". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2026-03-06.
- ^ "AT&T sells stake in DirecTV to TPG for $7.6 bln". Reuters. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ a b "Madu makes Forbes '30 Under 30 Finance' list". The Sun voice of nation. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ "Start 'em Up". Johns Hopkins Engineering Magazine. Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. June 23, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ Gant, Michelle (2019-12-26). "Baltimore college students create program to provide equal access to the arts". Upworthy. Retrieved 2026-03-06.
- ^ "Students turn to tech to improve life on campus". Sunday Times. South Africa. January 26, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ Kanwal, Adam (April 16, 2018). "Travis Karter: Saving Lives with Every Rhyme". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ "Freshman rapper talks music, charity and life". The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. February 8, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ "Kristofer Madu". Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
- ^ Nwoko, Uzochi P. (April 20, 2018). "Hip-Hop and Humanitarianism". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved March 6, 2026.