Forbes names Nigerian businessman Tope Awotona richest immigrant in US

Forbes has named Tope Awotona the wealthiest immigrant and Nigerian-American living in the United States.

The 42-year-old was born in Lagos and moved to the United States as a teenager. He holds a net worth of $1.2 billion.

Awotona is the founder and CEO of Calendly, a company that provides scheduling software.

According to Forbes, Awotona founded Calendly in response to his own frustration with the time-consuming back-and-forth emails required for meeting scheduling, after previously working as a salesman for tech companies such as EMC (now Dell EMC).

After self-funding Calendly for a long time, Awotona secured a significant $350 million investment in 2021, bringing 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.