Tope Awotona
Tope Awotona | |
|---|---|
Tope Awotona | |
| Born | Tope Awotona 4 May 1981 Lagos, Nigeria |
| Education | University of Georgia (BBA) |
| Occupations | |
| Title | Founder, Chairman & CEO of Calendly |
| Spouse | Married |
Tope Awotona is an American tech entrepreneur known for founding the software company, Calendly. As of 2025, Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.4 Billion making him one of the richest Black Billionaires. [1]
Early life and education
Awotona was born in Lagos, Nigeria. His father was a microbiologist and entrepreneur; his mother worked at the local bank.[1] When Awotona was 12 years old, his father was killed in a carjacking, convincing his mother, with Awotona and his three brothers, to later leave Lagos, migrate to the US, and reside in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.[1] Although he graduated from high school two years early and was provided a scholarship to a US college at 15 years old, his mother decided he was too young and required Awotona to first attend Wheeler High School for its junior and senior years. Awotona said, “It was super frustrating. I felt like I was wasting time because I had my plan in place.”[2] Nevertheless, the two years helped him to assimilate and learn the culture while he planned to continue his father's legacy of entrepreneurship.[2][3] He attended the University of Georgia, initially majoring in Computer Science, he later changed to Business Management Information Systems[4] and graduated from Georgia's Terry College of Business[4] with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2002.[5][6] His ethnicity is Yoruba.[7]
Career
Following graduation from the University of Georgia, Awotona held different corporate jobs, including working for IBM, before joining a startup company, Perceptive Software, as an accountant executive.[8] There he was exposed to the functions of a software business.[2] While trying to schedule a meeting, Awotona became frustrated and decided to use his life savings and go into debt[9] to create a communication and scheduling software company that became Calendly.[6][8] Launched from Atlanta Tech Village, Calendly made its debut in 2013.[1] Calendly became a $3 billion software firm that continues to provide solutions for business communications, team scheduling, and preparation follow-ups.[6] As of 2024, the Calendly app has 10 million users, according to Forbes making Awotona one of the wealthiest immigrants in America.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d Feldman, Amy (6 April 2022). "Nigeria-Born Tope Awotona Poured His Life Savings Into Calendly. Now He's One Of America's Wealthiest Immigrants". Forbes. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Houghton, Karen (26 April 2018). "Tope Awotona - A Founder Story". atlantatechvillage.com. Atlanta Tech Village. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
- ^ 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 "Who is the CEO of Calendly?". clay.com. Clay. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
- ^ "Calendly founder learned to persevere through trial and error". terry.uga.edu. University of Georgia. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Calendly: Tope Awotona". npr.org. NPR. Retrieved 5 March 2025.