TechUri Levine, Waze app, Google
Aug 17, 2015 03:07 AM EDT
Prior to selling his co-founded startup Waze to Google two years ago for $1B, Uri Levine did not live in luxury. He didn't buy his own house nor a brand-new car; rather he saved all his money.
"Oh wow! I never saw a billion dollars. I don't even know how to write it." Uri Levine told the Business Insider in reply to the question how he reacted when Google offered them $1B to buy the Waze app in 2013.
As this is Israel's first $1B deal, Levine set the business trend in the country. He was so impressed. The acquisition is so important to him and the rest of the investors. He said the board had come up to a decision even before Google made an offer that they will sell the company if they will be offered $1B.
But where did he spend the money? "Most of it went to investors," he discloses it in the interview.
On that account, My Billion Dollar App showed a detailed report on how much each Waze founders make upon Google's acquisition. It appears that Uri owns only 3% of the sales which is $38M.
He said he didn't buy a house, not even cars. "Nothing crazy. I live in a rental apartment. It makes perfect sense for me," he sorted out saying he saved the money. .
After the acquisition, the rest of his co-founders went to Google excluding him. Being a part of Google didn't come up in his mind. He went on his own, developing another startup. He sticks to his purpose; that is to create applications that will solve consumers' everyday problems and help them save on their expenses.
DC Finance reports Levine is now working on the startup FeeX; the app where people could reduce unnecessary fees with their accounts. Levine wants to concentrate on services; how to save their time and hard-earned money.
It was just hard to believe that in spite of being a serial entrepreneur and Israel's most sought-after investor, Levine is still living his life the simple way.