Tope Awotona

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Tope Awoto na
CON
Born
Tope Awoton

(1981-01-04) 4 January 1981 (age 43)
Lagos, Nigeria)
Education George Washington University
OccupationBusinessman
SpouseMarried


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]

Contents

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]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Tope Awotona, 42-year-old richest US-based Nigerian who owns $3bn tech company". Vanguard. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  4. "Why The Yoruba Are Successful Wherever They Go – THISDAYLIVE". www.thisdaylive.com. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  5. 1 2 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.
  6. Houghton, Karen (26 April 2018). "Tope Awontona- A founder Story".