The death of Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore has come as a surprise to many Kenyans.
Bob came into the country to head the largest telco in 2010 and immediately warmed into the hearts of many Kenyans, so much that one Wambui Kamiru, fell in love with him and they wedded in a beautiful private ceremony in 2016.
Despite him being a public figure, there are certainly interesting things that many still didn't know about him.
1. Bob Collymore's official name is Robert William Collymore.
2. He was originally from Guyana, a country in South America and was raised by his grandmother.
3. He went to school in Guyana then later studied in the United Kingdom when he went to live with his mother.
4. He did not attend University. He was offered a place at Warwick University but turned it down because he was not eligible for funding.
5. Bob hired people without University education. From the fact that he too did not attend university but still ended up being successful. He focused on the skills one had and liked making his employees smarter than him because he thought, why should he hire people who can do the same things he can.
6. Collymore's first real job was as an office boy/messenger when he was 16-years-old.
7. He also worked as a cashier which changed the way he interacted with supermarket employees.
8. He started earning money when he was 12-years-old by selling art pieces from plasticine molds.
9. The Safaricom boss woke up at 5.15am every day.
10. During his early years, Collymore wanted to be a painter and his mother threatened to evict him if he continued hawking paintings. She then got him an interview at a telco firm where she worked, which lay the ground for his illustrious career.
11. He did not like Kenyan food but rather preferred Chinese and Indian recipes.
12. He died at 61 years old, leaving behind four children and a wife.
13. Bob enjoyed flying helicopters and cycling.
14. He cried when he was admitted to the hospital in 2017 because of cancer. He explained that he cried at the realisation of how much many Kenyans cared about him.
15. He listened to “Grandma’s Hands” by Gregory Porter and Ben LOncle a lot during his time in hospital because his grandmother was the single most important person in his life.
16. Due to the illness, he could not make physical contact with anyone.
17. He has been married three times.
