Leslie Maasdorp is the co-founder of Yard Investment Holdings.
Leslie is the former Chief Financial Officer of the New Development Bank (NDB), headquartered in Shanghai China which was established in 2015 by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries. The NDB is a multilateral development bank with an authorized capital of USD100 billion and subscribed capital of USD50 billion.
Over the past 28 years, Leslie has played senior leadership roles in both private and public sectors in South Africa. In 2001 Cabinet appointed him as Chairman of Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) a state owned entity which has a mission to finance and implement bulk raw water infrastructure. In 2002 he became the first African to be appointed as International Adviser to Goldman Sachs International. In 2006, he was appointed in a dual role as Vice Chairman of Barclays Capital and Absa Capital. In 2010 he was appointed as the Managing Director and President of Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) for Southern Africa. Prior to joining the NDB Leslie served as CEO of education group Advtech, where he also served as non-executive Chairman for six years. In recognition of his experience he was elected and served as Vice President of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), a business body representing the top 80 listed companies in South Africa.
Leslie is an experienced non-executive director having served on the Boards of several large JSE listed companies including Absa Group, Telkom, Johnnic, HCI, Pangbourne Properties Ltd and Advtech. He also served as non-executive director of significant private companies including South Africa's third mobile operator Cell C and Prescient Asset Management.
Leslie has played leading roles in shaping the black economic empowerment landscape in South Africa. In 2004 he was co-founder and co-promoter of Batho Bonke Capital which acquired a 10% stake in Absa Group, in one of the largest Broad Based BEE transactions in SA at the time. In 2007 Leslie was designated as a Young Global leader by the World Economic Forum. He also served for seven years as non-executive director of the Soros Economic Development Fund in New York.
