Primary Job Title Co-Founder & Managing Partner Primary Organization 
AgriGroupe
Location New York, New York, United States Regions Greater New York Area, East Coast, Northeastern US Gender Male
LinkedIn View on LinkedIn
Michael Wilkerson is Managing Partner and co-founder of AgriGroupe, sponsor of the $500 million take-private acquisition of AFGRI Limited. AFGRI is a leader in South Africa’s agricultural and diversified foods group, and it’s also the largest non-bank lender to the agricultural sector in South Africa.
Wilkerson serves as Chairman of the Board of
Directors of AFGRI, and he is responsible for leading the company’s strategic transactions.
Wilkerson is also Founder of Ancêtre Group, a merchant-banking firm focused on private equity investment and financial advisory services. Ancêtre Group invests as principal and on behalf of third-parties. The group provides advice to shareholders, management teams, and boards on many financial and strategic matters including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, capital policy, and valuation.
Previously, Wilkerson served as Global Co-Head of the Consumer, Food & Retail Group and as Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group at Lazard Frères & Co., one of the world's preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms. Wilkerson was also a Managing Director at Citigroup, where he led the Financial Institutions M&A effort out of New York.
Wilkerson has been named one of the "40 under 40" in investment banking and private equity by Dealmaker magazine. Wilkerson previously served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Geneva School of Manhattan, and was a Corporate Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Wilkerson holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a MA from Yale University and a BS summa cum laude from Oral Roberts University.
