Tope Awotona
Tope Awoto na | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tope Awoton 4 February 1981 Lagos, Nigeria) |
| Education | George Washington University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse | Married |
Tope Awotona is a tech entrepreneur known for founding the software company, Calendly. As of 2024, Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.4 Billion making him one of the richest Black Billionaires. [1]
Early life and education
Tope Awotona born in Lagos, Nigeria. His father was a microbiologist and entrepreneur; his mother worked at the local bank.[1] At the age of 12 years old, Awotona's father was tragically killed in a carjacking, thus propelling him and his family which included his mother and three brothers to leave Lagos and migrate to the US residing in Atlanta, GA.[1] It was then that Awotona used his pain to continue his father's legacy of entrepreneurship.[2] He attended the University of Georgia to pursue business and management and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.[3] His ethnicity is Yoruba.[4]
Career
Following graduation from college, Awotona worked for different corporate jobs including IBM before joining a startup company in Kansas City, Perceptive Software as an accountant executive.[5] It was there while working for the company that he was exposed to various kinds of functions of the software business.[6] While trying to schedule a meeting as a salesman, Awotona become frustrated, and poured his life savings into creating Calendly.[3][5] Launched from Atlanta Tech Village, Calendly made its debut in 2013.[1] Since 2013, Calendly is now a $3 billion software firm that continues to provide simple solutions for business communications, team scheduling, and preparation follow-ups.[3] As of 2024, Calendly app has 10 million users, according to Forbes making Awotona one of the wealthiest immigrants in America.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d Feldman, Amy. "Nigeria-Born Tope Awotona Poured His Life Savings Into Calendly. Now He's One Of America's Wealthiest Immigrants". Forbes. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ Ngozi, Nwanji (12 October 1023). "How Tope Awotona Catapulted Calendly To A Billion-Dollar Company After Making It His Mission To Complete His Late Father's Work". MSN.
- ^ a b c d "Tope Awotona, 42-year-old richest US-based Nigerian who owns $3bn tech company". Vanguard. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ "Why The Yoruba Are Successful Wherever They Go – THISDAYLIVE". www.thisdaylive.com. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ a b Shen, Lucinda (20 November 2020). "Meet the unicorn founder that braved war zones and missed meetings to make his mark on the startup world". Fortune.
- ^ Houghton, Karen (26 April 2018). "Tope Awontona- A founder Story".