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Fahim Saleh

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Fahim Saleh
ফাহিম সালেহ
Born(1986-12-12)December 12, 1986
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
DiedJuly 13, 2020(2020-07-13) (aged 33)
New York City, U.S.
EducationBentley University, 2009[1]
Occupations
  • Investor
  • entrepreneur
Known forFounder of Gokada
Title
  • Founding partner of Adventure Capital
  • Founder of Gokada
  • Founder of Pathao
  • co-founder of JoBike

Fahim Saleh (Bengali: ফাহিম সালেহ; December 12, 1986 – July 13, 2020) was a Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur and computer programmer who founded Gokada in Nigeria, Pathao and JoBike.[2][3] Saleh was also a founding partner of Adventure Capital, a Manhattan-based venture capital firm.

Biography

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Saleh was born in Saudi Arabia, to Bangladeshi parents who frequently relocated for work, before settling in Rochester, New York. He taught himself to program at a young age, and created a variety of online projects such as a website for his family, a teenage social platform and a prank dial service, PrankDial,[4] after his graduation from Bentley University.[1] When he had grown older, Saleh said that he wanted to create something that "adds legitimate value to humanity". He created his first company while still in high school.[5] He used income from PrankDial to fund his further ventures.[6] PrankDial was somewhat controversial because it was abused as a tool for harassment.[7]

He went on to found the ride company Pathao, which was popular in Bangladesh and Nepal, in 2015.[8] The company was valued at $100 million.[9][10] In 2018, Saleh also founded Nigerian Gokada, a Nigerian ride-hail startup for motorbike taxis, that had millions of dollars in funding and gained a lot of traction in the country.[11] The company faced a setback after authorities in Lagos banned motorbike taxis in 2020.[12] Fahim also invested in another ride-sharing company named Picap in Colombia.[13]

Friends called Saleh the "Elon Musk of the developing world".[14][15] Complex estimated his net worth to be $150 million.[16]

Death

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On July 14, 2020, Saleh was found dead in his luxury apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.[17][16] Police stated that he was killed the day before.[1]

On the night of July 13, neighbors heard yelling from Saleh's unit and contacted his sister. After her attempts to contact him failed, she visited his condo on July 14 and found a grisly scene. She called the police, who found Saleh's torso next to an electric saw, and his head and limbs in garbage bags elsewhere in the apartment.[8] An autopsy report from the Chief Medical Examiner concluded that Saleh died from multiple stab wounds.[18] Detectives classified this case as a homicide. A police source told The New York Times that Saleh was followed by a man dressed in black into the key-secured elevator that led to his apartment on the seventh floor.[15] Security footage depicted Saleh struggling out of the elevator and onto his apartment floor. Detectives suspect that the killer fled the scene through the backdoor after Saleh's sister arrived looking for him, according to another police source.[19]

On July 17, Saleh's personal assistant, 21-year-old Tyrese Devon Haspil, was arrested and charged with murder, since Haspil had been the prime suspect of murder with incriminating surveillance videos that show him using the tech CEO's credit card after the murder and buying cleaning supplies, electric saw at Home Depot.[1][20]

Reactions

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Fahim Saleh's death caused shock and sympathy from the tech community.[21] Pathao and Gokada praised him after his death; Gokada called him "A great leader, inspiration and positive light for all of us" in its tweet.[2] Many in the tech community pay tribute to Fahim Saleh, including an AI successor site to PrankDial, CandyCall, which has a footnote that reads 'RIP Fahim Saleh'.[22]

Trials

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The case against Tyrese Devon Haspil was adjourned until January 11, 2021.[23] Tyrese Devon Haspil pleaded not guilty.[24] In early 2024, Haspil stated that he will present an insanity defense for his trial to a Manhattan jury, alleging he suffered from "extreme emotional disturbance." His case is represented by Legal Aid Society lawyer Sam Roberts.[25] If he is able to convince the jury, his charges could possibly be reduced to manslaughter, which carries a sentence of 5 to 20 years, as opposed to 20 years to life for murder.[26]

On September 10, 2024, Haspil was sentenced to 40 years to life in state prison for the 2020 murder of 33-year-old Fahim Saleh.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Rashbaum, William K.; Gold, Michael (July 17, 2020). "Suspect Is Arrested in Grisly Killing of Tech C.E.O. Fahim Saleh". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Fahim Saleh: Pathao and Gokada entrepreneur found dead in New York". BBC News. July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  3. ^ Saleh, Fahim (August 2, 2018). "Why Bangladesh Is Making Waves In The Tech Scene". Forbes. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  4. ^ "Young Entrepreneur Turns Prank Calls Into Profit". HuffPost. April 5, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  5. ^ "PRANKDIAL, FAHIM SALEH: The Man Before His Time". RADICHE. April 6, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  6. ^ Kessler, Sarah (April 2012). "How a High School Prank Call Site Turned Into Serious Business". Mashable. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  7. ^ Belanger, Joe (February 16, 2010). "Prank phone calls attract police attention". London Free Press. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Tech CEO Fahim Saleh found dismembered in NYC condo". Global News. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  9. ^ "Bangladesh's version of Go-Jek raises over $10M in a round led by Go-Jek". TechCrunch. April 27, 2018. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  10. ^ "Hussain Elius". Forbes. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  11. ^ "Nigeria's Gokada raises $5.3M round for its motorcycle ride-hail biz". TechCrunch. May 24, 2019. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  12. ^ Manskar, Noah (July 15, 2020). "Decapitated tech CEO posted video defending his company months before grisly death". New York Post. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  13. ^ Marino, Joe; Eustachewich, Lia (July 17, 2020). "'Person of interest' in Fahim Saleh murder is ex-employee". New York Post. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  14. ^ writer, Jacob; Bogage. "Fahim Saleh, slain tech CEO, helped bring big tech to the developing world". Washington Post. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  15. ^ a b Eustachewich, Lia (July 15, 2020). "Who was Fahim Saleh, the tech CEO brutally dismembered in NYC?". New York Post. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Millionaire Tech CEO Reportedly Found Decapitated and Dismembered in New York City Apartment". Complex. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  17. ^ "Gokada startup CEO Fahim Saleh found decapitated, dismembered in Manhattan condo". fortune.com. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  18. ^ Nicole Chavez and Rob Frehse (July 16, 2020). "Gokada founder Fahim Saleh died of multiple stab wounds, medical examiner says". CNN. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  19. ^ Gold, Michael; Rashbaum, William K.; Slotnik, Daniel E. (July 15, 2020). "Dismemberment Killing of Tech C.E.O. 'Looks Like Professional Job'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  20. ^ Chapman, Ben (July 18, 2020). "Tyrese Haspil, Accused Killer of Gokada CEO Fahim Saleh, Arraigned on Murder Charge". WSJ. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  21. ^ "Co-founder of Gokada found decapitated, dismembered inside New York condo | Hacker News". news.ycombinator.com. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  22. ^ "Candycall.io - AI Prank Calls".candycall.io
  23. ^ "Man pleads not guilty to 1st-degree murder in gruesome killing of tech CEO Fahim Saleh". CNN. October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  24. ^ "Slain tech CEO's assistant pleads not guilty to grisly murder". ctvnews. CNN. July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  25. ^ "Ex-assistant accused of killing and beheading tech CEO Fahim Saleh will try psych defense on a Manhattan jury".
  26. ^ "Ex-assistant accused of killing and beheading tech CEO Fahim Saleh will try psych defense on a Manhattan jury".
  27. ^ "Why Did a Personal Assistant Murder and Behead His Tech CEO Boss?". Peoplemag. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
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