Forbes has named Tope Awotona the richest immigrant and Nigerian-American residing in the United States.
The 42-year-old, born in Lagos, relocated to the US during his teenage years. He holds a net worth of $1.2 billion.
Awotona is the founder and CEO of Calendly, a scheduling software company.
According to Forbes, Awotona started Calendly in response to his own frustration with the time-consuming back-and-forth emails needed for meeting scheduling, having previously worked as a salesman for tech firms like EMC (now Dell EMC).
Having self-funded Calendly for an extended period, Awotona secured a substantial $350 million investment in 2021, propelling the company’s valuation to $3 billion.
Prior to establishing Calendly, Awotona ventured into other businesses, such as a projector-selling venture and a garden tools enterprise, both of which did not succeed. The majority of his wealth, however, comes from the software he created.
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, specializes in a business communication platform designed for teams to efficiently schedule, prepare, and follow up on external meetings.
In a statement on Thursday, chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) Abike Dabiri-Erewa congratulated Awotona.
She also congratulated Councillor Abigail Katung, a British Nigerian, on being appointed Lord Mayor of Leeds, the first citizen of Leeds, for the term 2024-2025.
Dabiri-Erewa said she was not surprised about the appointment of Councillor Katung going by her past achievements and records which has had positive impacts on humanity.
She prayed for a successful and impactful tenure for her and urged Nigerians in Leeds to continue to rally round and give her necessary support geared towards national development.
