RONALD KARAURI GUSHES ABOUT HIS WIFE AND HOW HE INVESTED Sh30 MILLION RETIREMENT MONEY INTO SPORTPESA

Ronald Karauri came in to the limelight when Kenyans got to know that he was the founder behind Sportpesa. He’s an accomplished businessman worth millions, but how did Sportpesa come about and what is his life story? Karauri sat with MC Jessy and he opened up about his family, love of cars and how Sportpesa was started.

The former pilot gushed about his wife saying the two met in flying school, “I’m married. My wife and I went to flying school together. She’s a captain in KQ. We’re blessed with a son and two daughters youngest is three-month-old. There is time we went to Dubai and their mum was the pilot.”

Ronald’s cars have a customized number plate, ACE 777, to which he says, “ Ace means a good pilot and triple 7 is the number.”

The question that most people ask is how he started Sportpesa. He states, “I met someone in a casino. I got into a fascination with poker. I decided why don’t I just play for real money? I went to Phoenix, USA. I was exposed to very many different people and got a lot of ideas I had not thought of before. That’s where and how I met my partners and we became friends.

Sportpesa was not my idea. I want Kenyans to understand that. I had bought land a long time ago for Sh2 million and later sold it for Sh30 million. I put all that money into Sportpesa idea. That money was like my retirement backup and I went all in.”

He says that he was still working at the time, stating, “I was still a pilot at the time because I was like, kama nimefanya ujinga, acha niendelee na kazi nitafute ingine. Then the partners called me to run the business because they felt I was the right person for the job. And 5 years later we created one of the biggest brands this country has ever seen.”

Karauri’s father is a retired MP for Meru but he says he’s not interested in politics as of now, “The time is not right. Inshallah in the future if things go well and if I’m blessed with life I will join politics.”