Khawaja is always working. So much so that he hasn’t taken a day off in almost a decade. Additionally, he didn’t pay himself for two years, even though his company had grown by 6,000 percent in 2012 and transacted $55 billion in 2013.
Khawaja’s story is one for the books. Born in Lebanon, he moved to Europe as a child to escape the unrest in his native region. He arrived in the United States in the 1990s with just $20 in his pocket. Subsequently, Khawaja held jobs in fast food restaurants and retail stores while saving every penny he could earn. After several years, he had saved money by working at a men’s fashion store in Los Angeles, California called Bernini. The store was a success, even becoming a franchise.
In 2002, Khawaja saw an opportunity in online ecommerce. He launched Allied Wallet the same year with a focus on providing round the clock ecommerce support in North America, Europe, and Asia. Today, the entrepreneur’s company boasts over 150 million users and transactions north of $1 million a day.