Adopted baby found in a dumpster grows up to be founder of $62-million telecom company

The successful founder of a major telecom company, Freddie Figgers, has an inspiring story that began with a shocking and painful start 36 years ago.

Who would have thought that the founder of a $62 million telecom company was abandoned in a dumpster as a baby?

Freddie’s mother abandoned him two days after giving birth to him.

He was left in a cold dumpster, without a hint of what had just happened to him and where this ill-fated situation would lead.

A painful beginning and a father’s words

Telecom company founder Freddie Figgers has an inspiring story that proves resilience can change everything. His advice to others is simple: “Don’t let your circumstances define who you are.”

Freddie’s life began with hardship. As a newborn, he was abandoned next to a dumpster in rural Florida, BBC noted.

At eight years old, he asked his father, Nathan, about his birth. The answer stayed with him forever.

“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.'”

Though the words hurt, Nathan pulled Freddie close and told him not to let it bother him.

Nathan and Betty Mae, both in their 50s, were foster parents who decided to adopt Freddie when he was two days old.

They raised him in Quincy, Florida, a town of about 8,000, giving him the love he needed.

But childhood wasn’t easy. Kids bullied him, calling him “Dumpster baby” and “Trash can boy.”

They even threw him into trash cans after school. Nathan would walk Freddie home from the bus stop to protect him, despite being mocked himself.

“I saw my father always helping people, stopping on the side of the road helping strangers, feeding the homeless,” he says.

Watching Nathan take him in and raise him motivated Freddie to live with the same kindness and compassion.

A love for technology

Weekends were spent “dumpster diving” with Nathan, looking for discarded treasures. Freddie dreamed of owning a computer, but they couldn’t afford one.

One day, they found a broken Macintosh computer at Goodwill for $24.

After dozens of attempts, he took it home and repaired it using parts from his father’s radios and alarm clocks. When it powered on, Freddie knew technology would shape his life.

By age 12, Freddie was repairing school computers.

The mayor of Quincy noticed his talent and asked him to fix about 100 computers for the city hall, paying him $12 an hour.

Later, when the city needed software to monitor water pressure, Freddie offered to build it himself, saving the city $600,000.

At 15, Freddie started his first cloud computing company.

The idea came after a tornado hit an Alabama car dealership, wiping out its computer files.

Freddie found a way to back up their data on a remote server, working from his backyard because he had no office.

Invention and loss

In 2008, 22-year-old Freddie had already created another life-changing innovation. This smart glucometer shares real-time blood sugar readings with family and doctors.

It was inspired by the loss of his uncle, who died from a diabetic coma.

As his work grew, Nathan’s health declined. He developed Alzheimer’s and sometimes wandered away from home.

So, Freddie invented a GPS shoe tracker with a built-in speaker so he could locate his father and talk to him.

Meanwhile, family members suggested putting Nathan in a nursing home, but Freddie refused.

“He didn’t abandon me, so I wasn’t going to abandon him,” he said. He even took Nathan to business meetings, leaving him in the car with the air conditioning on and the radio playing.

Nathan died in January 2014 at age 81. Freddie was devastated.

“It honestly broke me,” he said. “Because all I ever wanted to do was make my dad happy.”

Freddie sold the shoe tracker for $2.2 million shortly after Nathan’s passing.

Freddie said the experience opened his eyes and made him realize that money was only a tool. From that moment, he promised himself he would use it to improve the world before his time was over.

Building a $62m telecom company

Freddie left school a year after his father’s passing and focused on his dream.

At 24, he founded Figgers Communication, his telecom company, and designed over 80 custom software programs.

He knew many rural areas still use dial-up internet and could not access 2G or 3G networks.

Determined to change that, Freddie applied for an FCC license — a process that took multiple attempts and significant investment.

Eventually, he became the youngest telecom operator in the U.S.

He even built his first cell tower and installed fiber optic cables to service rural communities in north Florida and southern Georgia.

His telecom company later launched smartphones, including the Figgers F1, which disables texting while driving, and the Figgers F3, which supports wireless charging within five meters of a base charger.

Giving back and moving forward

Freddie married attorney Natlie Figgers in 2015, and they have a daughter together.

The message he hopes to pass on to her is to “never give up, no matter how cold the world may look,” and to make a difference in every life she touches.

Even with his success, Freddie never forgot where he came from.

He gives back by offering college scholarships, sponsoring youth programs, paying seniors’ bills, and helping save homes from foreclosure.

In November 2023, Freddie faced another heartbreak when Betty Mae passed away.

Her loss was deeply felt, but it strengthened his commitment to live with purpose and honor the values she and Nathan taught him.

Freddie Figgers may have been called a “dumpster baby,” but he refused to let that define him. Instead, he turned his pain into motivation, working tirelessly to build a better life — not just for himself, but for others too.

Watch this video to learn more about Freddie Figgers and his amazing success story: