Have you heard about the story of a 42 year old Nigerian-American born in the US who holds a net worth of 1.2 billion US dollars, according to Forbes? Mr Awotona was actually born in Lagos, Nigeria, and immigrated to the United States as a teenager.
Tope Awotona, is the billionaire Founder & CEO of Calendly LLC, since February 2013. He is the first Nigerian American to become a billionaire in the United States of America.
Mr. Awotona founded Calendly in 2013 with the vision of simplifying scheduling for everyone without the back-and-forth emails. He invested his life savings of $200,000 into the company while still working as a sales rep for EMC. With Mr. Awotona’s strategic direction, the platform has grown and evolved to over 10 million monthly users and surpassing $100 million in revenue in 2021.
The company raised $350 million in funding from OpenView Venture Partners and Iconiq Capital at a price that values the business at $3 billion. He is the majority owner of the company’s shares, which are worth at least $1.4 billion according to Forbes. Calendly has been profitable since its third year in business.
“I just know the country that produced me,” he explained to TechCrunch. “There are a million Topes in Nigeria. The difference for me was my parents. But I’m not a diamond in the rough, and I want to get involved in some way to help with that full potential.”
Nigeria-Born Tope Awotona Poured His Life Savings Into Calendly. Now He’s One Of America’s Wealthiest Immigrants. Tope Awotona, the 40-year-old founder and chief executive of Calendly, leans back in his chair and let’s loose a loud guffaw. “You call it on message, I call it the truth,” he says, slapping his hands on the table. The truth, as Awotona has it, is that everyone needs Calendly, his scheduling software, to lead better, more productive, happier work lives.
Background of Awotona Before establishing Calendly, Awotona ventured into other businesses, such as a projector-selling venture and a garden tools enterprise, which did not succeed. The majority of his wealth, however, comes from the software he created.
He is a graduate with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Georgia, Awotona resides in Atlanta, Georgia, with his family. Calendly, the software company he founded, specialises in a business communication platform designed for teams to schedule, prepare, and follow up on external meetings efficiently.
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