Tomas Gorny was born behind the Iron Curtain and later lived on just $3 a day, yet he built Nextiva, a company valued at $2.7 billion. And as I discovered, through a family trust, he still controls a staggering 66 percent of it.
In the world of Silicon Valley, this is an anomaly. Even the most famous entrepreneurs rely on heavy external financing, whether in the form of Venture Capital or public markets.
To put that in perspective: Aaron Levie, co-founder of Box, holds just over 2 percent of his $4.6 billion company. Elon Musk holds approximately 13 percent of Tesla's common stock (though his total control remains a subject of ongoing legal complexity regarding his compensation packages). A 13 percent stake makes Musk a powerhouse. So, what does that make Gorny with his 66 percent?
A secret uncovered in Poland
The billionaire, serial entrepreneur, and founder of Nextiva—a modern platform for business communication and customer engagement—chose a completely different path. For years, he developed the company through bootstrapping and did so with remarkable efficiency. Today, Nextiva serves more than 100,000 customers worldwide, having delivered projects for the likes of IKEA and the San Antonio Spurs.
Gorny only accepted outside financing for the first time in 2021, when Goldman Sachs invested $200 million at a $2.7 billion valuation. Despite this, the company remains privately held.
I uncovered these previously unpublished ownership details by analyzing filings from Poland's Central Register of Beneficial Owners (CRBR)—a government transparency database where companies must disclose their ultimate beneficial owners. Gorny was required to report this data because he maintains a subsidiary in his home country: Nextiva Poland.
According to official filings, Nextiva Poland is owned by Nextiva Inc., in which 66.28 percent is held by the Tomasz and Aviva Gorny Family Trust—a trust belonging to Tomas, his wife, and their children.
The struggle for survival
It is a paradox that I discovered one of the billionaire's greatest secrets in the country where he was born in 1975 as Tomasz Górny. Over the years, the final "z" disappeared from his first name, and the Polish "ó" in his last name turned into an "o."
He grew up in a working-class family with a brother nine years his junior. They lived without a telephone or a car, watching only two available channels on a black-and-white television. As he has said, in communist Poland, "his parents were fighting for survival."
Yet, he recalls being happy, going fishing and camping. At just six or seven years old, he told his parents he wanted to go to America. He doesn't quite know why—perhaps he picked up the idea from a Western movie.
His path to business independence is the result of a deeply held life philosophy. Gorny stands out for his diligence, his constant search for new opportunities, and his ability to adapt and rise after failure. He proved this by moving first from Poland to Germany, and then from Germany to the US. Each time, he started almost from scratch, worked for pennies, and seized every opportunity—from the PC revolution to the birth of the World Wide Web.
A "stupid, young Pole" in Germany
He arrived in Germany at the age of 14 after his family emigrated to care for his grandmother and seek better opportunities. Initially, he didn't know the language. He didn't just study; he worked. He delivered newspapers (waking up at three or four in the morning) and washed dishes in a restaurant.
All the while, he continued to dream of America, this time consuming shows and films like Beverly Hills 90210 and Wall Street. By 16, he was already running a successful business. He imported computer parts from Asia, assembled them into individual units, and sold them on the German market.
It sounds intriguing, but it wasn't easy. He recalls being discriminated against because of his age and accent—some dismissed him as a "stupid, young Pole." He only grew stronger from it.
"I believe we are who we are, not despite our weaknesses and obstacles, but because of them." At the time, he told himself: "Maybe I speak with an accent, but I don't think with an accent."
The turning point
His interest in programming and technology began as a child in Poland. On a primitive computer—likely the smallest on the market—he began writing his own programs and games. Once in Germany, he was swept up in the PC revolution, moving from DOS to Windows and the world of mice and icons.
"It was a decisive moment, and I was only a bit over 14 years old. Above all, I concluded that this is the future: all my later businesses were based on the assumption that I create complex information technology but easy to use," he told INNPoland.
The door to the US was opened by a man he met during an internship at a German school. Gorny wanted to reach the States so badly that he didn't finish school in Germany. He dreamed of the Californian lifestyle and the sun, but above all, of freedom. "I am a free spirit," he says of himself.
He sold his business and flew to Los Angeles in 1996. He had a few thousand dollars but spoke no English. He joined the aforementioned colleague who had founded Internet Communications, one of the world's first hosting companies. He felt instinctively that soon, every company would have its own website.
Living on $3 a day
At Internet Communications, he initially received no salary, opting instead for a 20 percent equity stake. During the day, he ran the company; at night, he earned extra money as a waiter, cleaned carpets, and parked cars.
For a long time, he lived on just $3 a day. He filled up on weekends at a bar where, for seven dollars, you could eat as much as you wanted. The price was per person, but he and his friend would take turns going to the counter.
Fortune found him in 1998 when Interliant bought his company for cash and stock. Crucially, this happened before the new owner's IPO. Gorny earned his first million, and then his wealth grew exponentially. He received Interliant shares at $6.67; after the debut, they soared to $70, and eventually $100.
The boom was short-lived. While he bought his dream home and car, he invested some of his money poorly. He also started a company selling online ads to business customers. Soon, the dot-com bubble burst, and the events of September 11, 2001, sent the market into a tailspin.
"In October 2001, I was unable to pay the mortgage on my home—$2,500 a month," he recalled in an interview with Forbes.
Bringing all conversations together
The value of Gorny's shares dropped from nearly $10 million to just $6,000. He sold them, bought servers, and founded a new hosting company, IPOWER, in a basement.
Growth was slow at first, but after implementing proprietary software that simplified website management, he began gaining 200 clients a day instead of three. Within two years, the company reached 60,000 users. In 2011, the entire business was acquired by Warburg Pincus and Goldman Sachs for nearly $1 billion.
By then, Nextiva had already existed for three years. Gorny founded it because he saw that the communication industry had seen very little innovation for over 50 years. He noticed that while people were conversing more through digital tools, those tools were scattered and dominated by giants.
"We made it our mission to be the company that brings all conversations together in one place, and allows every business, especially the non-technical businesses, to really be able to level the playing field between some of those really large technical businesses, so people can compete against the big giants," he emphasized.
Adapting to the AI era
Today, Tomas Gorny writes most often about artificial intelligence, urging others to embrace its possibilities. Nextiva positions itself as an AI-powered Unified-CXM platform.
"We see an agentic future for businesses, where humans define outcomes and AI helps achieve them," Gorny said when Goldman Sachs recognized him as one of the Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2025. In his view, one must adapt to this new reality driven by AI.
As he says, in life and business, you have to adapt. Just like he did—an immigrant from communist Poland who overcame immense obstacles to build a multi-billion dollar empire while holding onto his 66 percent.
Sources
- Ownership Data: Analysis of the Central Register of Beneficial Owners (CRBR), Poland.
- Goldman Sachs Investment: Nextiva Newsroom & Bloomberg.
- Comparative Benchmarks: DCF Modeling (Aaron Levie/Box) & Tesery (Elon Musk/Tesla).
- Biographical Interviews: INNPoland, Fortune, Sramana Mitra, and Forbes Poland.
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