As a child, he was abandoned in the trash and today he is a technology millionaire | the Chronicle

Freddie figgers He was a baby when his birth parents left him in a trash can in Florida, United States.

“The children made fun of me; They called me ‘trash baby’, They told me ‘nobody loves you … you are dirty“. I remember the times when I got off the school bus and the kids would grab me and throw me in the trash cans and laugh at me, ”Figgers told the BBC.

His adoptive parents, Nathan and Betty May, were 74 and 66, respectively, when they welcomed him into their family. Both had opened their doors to dozens of children for decades and were planning to stop because of their age. Until Freddie arrived.

When Freddie grew up and started asking questions about his identity, Nathan was honest with him, “He said, ‘I’ll tell you frankly. Your birth mother left you and since Betty and I didn’t want you. send in foster care, we adopted. ” I felt like a trash can and I always remember him grabbing me by the shoulders and saying: ”Never let it bother you‘”.

Freddie acknowledges that the affection of his parents marked him for life. “My parents gave me all the love everyone could ask for. They did everything for me. They are great people. They taught me to be honest, to always do the right thing, to never forget my origins. “

At age 9, he received a broken Macintosh computer. Freddie managed to take it apart and fix it, and so on discovered his vocation: “It was then that I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life.” Between the ages of 10 and 11, he learned to code and began to write programs. “This computer took away all the pain of bullying. While I was bullied at school, I thought about how much I wanted to go home to play on my computer“. Three years later, I was already working as an IT technician already 15 dropped out of school to start his own business.

Two years later, his father fell ill with Alzheimer’s. Nathan left his house thinking he was being chased, and Freddie noticed that he had never forgotten to put on his shoes. “I opened their soles, put a circuit on them, with a microphone, speaker, and a broadband network card, and built it into my laptop. So he was like ‘I don’t know where I am’ he said next to nothing I could tell if he was standing, sitting or lying on the floor“. The young man sold his new invention for 2 million USD.

His next step was to get involved in the telecommunications market to provide fast connection to households in rural areas. At 21, he obtained his license as a telecommunications operator and became the youngest person to have it.

With Figgers Communications, Freddie today installs fiber optic cables and builds telephone towers. In addition, through its foundation, grants scholarships African American students and provides assistance in disaster situations. To those who face adversity, he advises: “Don’t let your situation define who you are and give opportunities to others“.