Hispanic Heritage Month – Augie Fabela
“Before Augie Fabela co-founded Fastforward, he co-founded one of the world’s largest telecom companies in Russia, VEON. He’s also a helicopter pilot, an Amazon bestselling author….and how about this…..a Commander with the Winthrop Harbor Police homicide task force and a special assistant to the Cook County Sheriff! Nothing is to big or too bold for Augie, he makes things happen. He’s successful and seems to have so much fun whatever he’s doing. Augie is very “present” and attracts people to him. As he says, he’s committed to success and to never getting discouraged.”
Augie Fabella Bio
Augie Fabella is the Co-Founder and CEO of FastForward.ai, a Silicon Valley social-tech company, with a mission to revolutionize Social Retail Marketing; helping enterprises create a modern digital customer relationship, leveraging the power of social media. He’s a No. 1 Best Seller author of “The Impatience Economy | How Social Retail Marketing Changes Everything”.
Augie co-founded VEON, Ltd. at the age of 25, now the world’s 10th largest mobile network operator with 220 million subscribers—more than AT&T and Verizon. In 1996 he led the IPO of VEON and became the youngest Chairman of a NYSE-listed company (to date), reaching a peak valuation of $42 billion, with 60,000 employees globally.
After graduating from Stanford University with a M.A. and B.A. in four years, Augie spent two years working in Tokyo for Japan’s largest media conglomerate, Fujisankei Group. He returned to the United States with a goal of starting his own business, ultimately founding five companies.
In 2010, as part of his contribution back to society, Augie became a certified police officer in Chicago, his birthplace, graduating from the police academy at the age of 44. He continues to contribute his time, talent and experience, actively serving at Chicago Cook County Sheriff’s Office, with the rank of Chief. He is the author of “DECIDE: Tactical Crisis Decision Making for Law Enforcement.”
Augie is a civic contributor and business policy innovator. He served as a member of the World Economic Forum (Davos) for 15 years and a Founding Member of its Global Chairman Community.
