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Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US - Business (2) - Nairaland

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Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by LagosG: 10:42am On Jan 20
cool
Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Jennyclay(f): 10:42am On Jan 20
Handsome man

3 Likes

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by happney65: 10:42am On Jan 20
Yoruba Amaka

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Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by justmondris: 10:42am On Jan 20
BigBlackPreek:
Congratulations to him but what has been his contributions back home towards bettering the life of the less privileged and the downtrodden
Is he the federal government of Nigeria or do you pay ur tax to him? Please drop this ur entitlement mentality and allow the young man to rest.

15 Likes 6 Shares

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Administration1: 10:42am On Jan 20
Great news

1 Like 1 Share

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by PrinceofSarcasm: 10:42am On Jan 20
Zxcvbnmghtr:


What is it with you and tribalism?! See how you want to derail this innocent thread.

Did I state facts or not ?
Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Rahkman: 10:42am On Jan 20
angry
Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Trophy12: 10:42am On Jan 20
BigBlackPreek:
Congratulations to him but what has been his contributions back home towards bettering the life of the less privileged and the downtrodden
bro take it easy this man is not the course of Nigeria problem, if u feel pained hold the president responsible that's why it's your president.

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Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Zxcvbnmghtr: 10:44am On Jan 20
PrinceofSarcasm:


Did I state facts or not ?

No, just an opinion of yours not FACT.

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Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Jackson105: 10:44am On Jan 20
PrinceofSarcasm:


Did I state facts or not ?

Just shatap! Bittered element

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Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by DenreleDave(m): 10:45am On Jan 20
PrinceofSarcasm:


What re you talking about ? Is everything alright with you ?

Always claiming victim

One on one, una no fit stand.. Always running to the mods for help grin grin grin

Cry more

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Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by DARLINGTON869(m): 10:45am On Jan 20
PureFace1:


You read it right

Your generation usually use government favour to discredit Yoruba success in this country, the UK and USA government must also be favouring Yoruba over Igbo right ?

Yoruba have billionaire in USA and UK no tribe in Africa have that feat.
please be calming down. You have clearly not heard of Aurthur Eze of Oranto oil or Emeka Offor of chrome group

2 Likes

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Occurstaem(m): 10:46am On Jan 20
PrinceofSarcasm:
That tribalist FreeStuffsNG will soon come here and create topic because the person is Yoruba.

The guy doesn't even think like a normal person beyond tribalism. I don't know why he wasn't banned permanently.

Seun if you want to clean Nairaland accounts like FreeStuffsNG should be banned permanently. He only created topics for one tribe and intentionally avoids achievements of southeast southsouth of Northerners.

Ban that account permanently!
Is your head paining you?
What an entitled nitwit.

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Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by tasalanoni(m): 10:46am On Jan 20
Dey play!
Igbo cocaine barons never jam you! You can only talk about richest in the context of legit money.

3 Likes

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by SmartyPants(m): 10:47am On Jan 20
BreconHills:


Richer than Bayo Ogunlesi?

Nope. Ogunlesi is almost twice as wealthy. This is an outdated report.

5 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by sukkot: 10:48am On Jan 20
Omo Karo ojire . Ndigbo this thing is not by mouth. Who pass you pass you hehe

lil friendly tribal banter. Y'all don't get in your feelings now . Let ya boy catch some fun

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Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by SmartyPants(m): 10:49am On Jan 20
forenzy:
Tope Awotona is the founder and CEO of scheduling software company Calendly.
Awotona, a former salesman for tech firms including EMC (now Dell EMC), founded Calendly out of his own frustration with the back-and-forth emails required to schedule meetings.

He bootstrapped Calendly for years before taking on a $350 million investment in 2021 that valued the firm at $3 billion.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Awotona immigrated to the United States as a teenager.
Before founding Calendly, he had started a few other businesses, including one that sold projectors and another that sold garden tools, that flopped.

https://businessday.ng/news/article/meet-tope-awotona-richest-nigerian-and-immigrant-in-the-us/#:~:text=Tope%20Awotona%20has%20been%20named,Calendly%2C%20a%20scheduling%20software%20company.

Awotona has been eclipsed by Adebayo Ogunlesi.

https://www.thecable.ng/bayo-ogunlesis-net-worth-hits-2-3bn-after-blackrock-agreed-to-buy-gip#:~:text=Following%20the%20agreement%2C%20Ogunlesi%2C%20who,joining%20the%20Bloomberg%20Billionaire%20Index.

1 Like

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by seguno2: 10:49am On Jan 20
PureFace1:
No but he is as rich as Jay Z his net worth is 1.2 billion $ while his company is worth 3 billion $

Please is Jay Z also a Nigerian in America like this Tope Awotona or like Ogunlesi

1 Like 1 Share

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Occurstaem(m): 10:50am On Jan 20
Kokorokomanaoga:

How does someone praising the feats of his tribesmen translate to tribalism, if you are not ashamed of your tribe why dont you post and praise their achievements too?
That means the likes of anambraIstson etc should be banned too?
Something is definitely wrong with those idi0ts from rising criminal area.
All they cry of is victimization day and night as if the world is against them.

13 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by seguno2: 10:50am On Jan 20
SmartyPants:

Awotona has been eclipsed by Adebayo Ogunlesi.

https://www.thecable.ng/bayo-ogunlesis-net-worth-hits-2-3bn-after-blackrock-agreed-to-buy-gip#:~:text=Following%20the%20agreement%2C%20Ogunlesi%2C%20who,joining%20the%20Bloomberg%20Billionaire%20Index.

Is Ogunlesi a Nigerian American or is he a Nigerian Briton

3 Likes 3 Shares

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by INTEGRITYA1(m): 10:50am On Jan 20
Great
Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Occurstaem(m): 10:51am On Jan 20
PrinceofSarcasm:


Seun mynd44 obinoscopy nlfpmd Dominique mukina2
Seriously
I'm so sorry, you're definitely dumber than I had thought.

5 Likes 1 Share

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Kukutente23: 10:52am On Jan 20
BigBlackPreek:
Congratulations to him but what has been his contributions back home towards bettering the life of the less privileged and the downtrodden
Why should he contribute back home towards the less privileged and downtrodden?
Is he the one that made them poor?

1 Like

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by marlow1962(m): 10:53am On Jan 20
BigBlackPreek:
Congratulations to him but what has been his contributions back home towards bettering the life of the less privileged and the downtrodden
The less privilege no get government?

3 Likes

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Mandate1: 10:53am On Jan 20
BigBlackPreek:
Congratulations to him but what has been his contributions back home towards bettering the life of the less privileged and the downtrodden
what is the contribution of Nigeria to his success story? It's not mandatory to give back to Nigeria, it's a self choice. If he wishes to give to Nigeria, good, if he doesn't, also good.

4 Likes 1 Share

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Image123(m): 10:53am On Jan 20
It would have been me but I don't love money and i no dey.
Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by SmartyPants(m): 10:53am On Jan 20
seguno2:


Is Ogunlesi a Nigerian American or is he a Nigerian Briton

No real idea for sure, but having lived all his adult life in America, my guess would be Nigerian American.
Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by ramon212: 10:54am On Jan 20
PureFace1:



yen yen look at you wailing as if there are not also accounts that create topics only for Igbo, all what your generation is good at is playing the victims cheesy

For those of you that says Yoruba is successful in this country because of government,
Yoruba is the most successful in UK and USA too, UK and USA government must be helping Yoruba to marginalize Igbo cheesy

No proof or statistics to show yoruba are the most successful tribe in those countries.
Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by Besko(m): 10:54am On Jan 20
Good job! Next in line!!!
Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by SLIDEwaxie(m): 10:55am On Jan 20
BreconHills:


Richer than Bayo Ogunlesi?
Ogunlesi is in UK and not US

1 Like

Re: Tope Awotona: Meet Nigeria's Richest Man In The US by seguno2: 10:55am On Jan 20
PureFace1:
yen yen look at you wailing as if there are not also accounts that create topics only for Igbo, all what your generation is good at is playing the victims cheesy

For those of you that says Yoruba is successful in this country because of government,
Yoruba is the most successful in UK and USA too, UK and USA government must be helping Yoruba to marginalize Igbo cheesy

Please what is the point in two impotent men bragging and arguing over the length of their fishing rods

David Hundeyin
May 4, 2022

I want to sell a script to a Hollywood studio. The story is about a guy who owns a farm that constantly runs at a loss but never quite shuts down.

The farm is massive and underutilised, and the protagonist has all the opportunities in the world to improve its output and get a bumper harvest.

He has access to credit, machinery, free irrigation and gifts from neighbouring farmers, but all he ever does with these things is drink and smoke them away while his family suffers.

Nigeria has refused to grow up and achieve something, but it somehow feels as if it is living vicariously through the achievements of its estranged children around the world

Apart from drinking, smoking and generally being utterly useless, his other pastime is to pump out children at an industrial rate. Needless to say, he takes no care of his children whatsoever, and many of them fail to survive childhood.

Those who do survive have to leave the farm and hire themselves out as hired labour to the neighbouring farmers, having picked up some survival skills from home.

With time, a number of them rise through the ranks and become senior managers, directors and even shareholders in these other farms while their father continues mismanaging his farm.

When good news about some of these successful children gets home, their father is filled with pride and joy, but when they end up on the wrong side of life, he acts as if he never knew them.

The successful ones make efforts to revamp their childhood home by sending back money and volunteering their skills and time, but all this guy ever wants to do is be a 62-year-old underachieving idiot carried through life by charity and luck.

Famzingā€ diaspora success is dishonest
Iā€™m sure before the end of the second paragraph, you figured out whose story I was telling. The 62-year story of post-independence Nigeria ā€” which the Hollywood studio would surely reject for being too sad with no redemption ā€” is that of our fictional antihero.

Nigeria has refused to grow up and achieve something, but it somehow feels as if it is living vicariously through the achievements of its estranged children around the world.

Remember how everyone from corporate brands to Abike Dabiri made a big song and dance about supporting Anthony Joshua the ā€œNigerian,ā€ whose only chance to become someone in life came when his parents emigrated from Nigeria?

Remember how things turned when he somehow lost against that chubby Mexican dude whose name I canā€™t remember? Remember when the Super Falcons won the female AFCON title and received a congratulatory tweet from the president, only for them to have to stage a protest before being paid their camp allowances?

Thatā€™s what we do in Nigeria. We try to live vicariously through the achievements of people who have achieved great things under their own steam, simply because said people happen to be called ā€˜Ifeoma,ā€™ ā€˜Efeā€™ and ā€˜Ayotunde.ā€™

Even when Nigeria had absolutely nothing to do with said success, or in fact happened in spite of Nigeria, as with Divine Oduduru, we bask in the reflected glory of their personal achievements.

Sometimes when those people wear a Nigerian flag or post something about Wizkid or Jollof Rice on Instagram, we go crazy with the Nigerian flag emojis because oh my god, they identify with us!

This is not about being a Killjoy
Somehow, the complete failure of Nigeria and our complicity in its failure is more bearable when we point at Nigerian immigrants doing great things in life and say ā€œI knew Femi before he started calling himself Anthony.

His father and I were classmates in Aiyetoro.ā€ It is unclear how exactly this helps our situation but hey, itā€™s also unclear how chugging the amount of alcohol we do helps either.

Escapism is a key part of our culture, and anyone who dissents must be a non-Jollof-eating, vegetarian heretic, and possibly also an atheist.

Now while all this is painfully cringey to my eyes, some will also point out that Nigeria is not the only country that has a weird obsession with its diaspora population.

Even ā€˜first-worldā€™ countries like Ireland continue to have deep emotional and economic connections to their diaspora, and in any case Nigerians proudly supporting Anthony Joshua or the NBAā€™s Giannis Anteā€¦African-sounding-name is basically harmless fun. Theyā€™re not hurting anyone. Why be such a killjoy, David?

The reason this matters can be found in a quote that has been dubiously attributed to Russian President Vladmir Putin, where he describes Africa as the place where its diaspora does not invest in, but returns to only to die and be buried with their ancestors.

While there is no concrete evidence that Mr. Putin ever actually made that comment, the truth in it is painfully poignant.

For diaspora success to be meaningful to Nigeria, it must correlate to on-ground results in Nigeria. The example of Somalia shows that having a well-educated, globally successful diaspora while being an absolute basket case are both possible at the same time.

Iā€™d imagine we do not aspire to be Somalia.

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