Freddie Figgers was given his first computer at the age of nine. It was old and didn't work but it was the start of a love affair with technology

Freddie Figgers: The millionaire tech inventor who was 'thrown away' as a baby

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2021-06-06 00:30:03

Freddie Figgers was given his first computer at the age of nine. It was old and didn't work but it was the start of a love affair with technology that turned him into an inventor, entrepreneur and telecoms millionaire - a future that few would have predicted after his tough start in life.

When he was eight years old, he asked his father, Nathan, about the circumstances of his birth, and the reply was unforgettable.

"He said, 'Listen I'm going to shoot it to you straight, Fred. Your biological mother, she threw you away, and me and Betty Mae, we didn't want to send you through foster care and we adopted you, and you're my son.'"

"When he told me that, I was like, 'OK I'm trash,' and I felt unwanted. But he grabbed my shoulder and he said, 'Listen, don't you ever let that bother you.'"

Nathan Figgers was a maintenance worker and handyman and Betty Mae Figgers, a farm worker. They lived in Quincy, a rural community of about 8,000 people in North Florida, and were in their 50s when Freddie was born in 1989.

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