A young Kenyan caught in row between world's top 2 wealthiest men

[MK254]

Charles Mwangi, the Executive Vice President of Rivian Automotive Inc. which develops and manufactures automobiles​

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have been making global headlines for months over their success in business with Forbes ranking them separately as richest people in the world.

However, a Kenyan has been caught up in the raw between former and current richest men in the world.

Charles Mwangi found a working home abroad for almost 20 years and has had a successful career working with the top world fortune companies.

Charly as he is commonly referred to by his colleagues is an alumnus of Strathmore High School and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). He studied Bachelor of Science majoring in Civil Engineering.

Ravian R1S 37A produced by Ravian Automobile Inc​

After completing his studies in Kenya, Mwangi proceeded to Tennessee State University through a scholarship program to study Bachelor of Science in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.

While studying in Tennessee, Charles Mwangi was one of the only two Africans hired by Toyota Motor Corporation in 2003 through a recruitment strategy.
His colleagues at Toyota nicknamed him 'Old man' owing to his quest for knowledge. However, his ascension to the top was not rossy.

Charly, in one of his interviews on Gearbox with Dr. Kamau Gachigi said that his colleagues at times looked down upon him and he struggled to fit in the society.

“No one believes you when you are an African talking about technology. When I started at Toyota, people didn’t trust me to explain even how the printer worked!” Charly said.

The JKUAT alumnus landed another job at Nissan Motor Corporation where he worked for six years as a Senior Manufacturing Engineer. This was immediately after he graduated with his second degree from Tennessee State University.

In 2012, he found his way into Elon Musk's Tesla Inc through an interview in which he had doubted himself. The engineer said the move was risky since the company warned him that he might lose the job after six months. He was hired and delegated to work at the car's division, Tesla Tool & Die.

By 2018, he was managing over 400 engineers in Tesla. His leadership ability and skills saw his team guide Tesla into making over $21B (Ksh 234 billion). He was promoted to be a Senior Director of Engineering in the same year.

A year later, he quit the multi-billion job to join a Stealth Startup (Companies whose operations are not known to the public thus giving them a competitive advantage).

Currently, Mwangi is the Executive Vice President for Rivian, a company that develops Electric vehicles and its other related products and services. He is working closely with Rivian's Manufacturing Engineer Managers.

Rivian Automotive.Inc which is currently being backed by former world richest man Bezos' Amazon and Ford to acquire other global automotive markets.

Rivian was valued at $27B (Ksh 2.9 trillion) in January 2021. The firm plans to have over 100,000 pickups and vans produced in less than 10 years with experts saying that Bezos is flexing his muscles and aims at establishing himself as the world's richest over a long period of time.

Charly's friends say that he is a true definition of how being persistence, dedicated, consistency and hard work can earn take a person to places.

Dr. Kamau Gachigi (Left) and Charles Mwangi (Right) during a past Interview
​

Kenyan Caught in Row Between World's Top 2 Wealthiest Men

A seasonal engineer who has worked with both former and current richest men in the world continues to promote the Kenyan flag.

www.kenyans.co.ke

 

[Geza Ulole]

Where is the row in the story?

 

[NairobiWalker]

Kenyans keep winning.

 

[nomasana]

where is the row in the story?

That's what I am wondering

 

[Babaguy]

where is the row in the story?

Tanzanight transit mwana mgamabo...! Read

 

[Opportunity Cost]

where is the row in the story?

,but congrats kwake

 

[MK254]

That's what I am wondering

Those of us in the tech industry can tell you for sure how big this is.

There has been intense and cut-throat competition between those two honchos, that has even lead to several lawsuits, this was necessitated by poaching conducted by their respective holdings.

Rivian who are well funded by Amazon and Ford, recently poached 13 of the most senior Tesla staff by offering large sum of money, the team left with very crucial Tesla documents and whole thing has led into fierce court battle, with a brilliant Kenyan techie caught in the crossfire, millions $$$ are being thrown around like carrots.

 

[nomasana]

Those of us in the tech industry can tell you for sure how big this is.

There has been intense and cut-throat competition between those two honchos, that has even lead to several lawsuits, this was necessitated by poaching conducted by their respective holdings.

Rivian who are well funded by Amazon and Ford, recently poached 13 of the most senior Tesla staff by offering large sum of money, the team left with very crucial Tesla documents and whole thing has led into fierce court battle, with a brilliant Kenyan techie caught in the crossfire, millions $$$ are being thrown around like carrots.

Aaahhh.....idk much about the staffing wars

A buddy of mine got poached from our company to go work in one of those Tesla megafactories in Nevada.

 

[MK254]

Aaahhh.....idk much about the staffing wars

A buddy of mine got poached from our company to go work in one of those Tesla megafactories in nevada

A dose of their own medicine, but poaching in this industry can turn nasty, especially in countries that observe rule of law, it's risky and can cause lose of millions.

As a firm, you're prohibited from implementing any ideas fronted by the new recruit if his/her former company had similar plans even if they never implemented them, you're limited to only involve the poached individuals in completely fresh ideas.

You might even be forced to throw out some plans in your incubation if they turn out to conflict with the interests of the rival firm, even if you incubated them before the transfer.

Silcon Valley battles can at times be very interesting.

 

[nomasana]

A dose of their own medicine, but poaching in this industry can turn nasty, especially in countries that observe rule of law, it's risky and can cause lose of millions.

As a firm, you're prohibited from implementing any ideas fronted by the new recruit if his/her former company had similar plans even if they never implemented them, you're limited to only involve the poached individuals in completely fresh ideas.

You might even be forced to throw out some plans in your incubation if they turn out to conflict with the interests of the rival firm, even if you incubated them before the transfer.

Silcon Valley battles can at times be very interesting.

Bro.....you right on the money

I got no clue how the tech side of things operate but for a fact I do know that my former coworker had to sign some major N.D.A with Tesla just to be a lead electrician.