Tobi is highly regarded as a sort of influential figure. Being a highly successful CEO from his younger age, his story is deemed inspirational by many - even getting to write his own book. The company he owns, Angel's Share, was primarily known as a banking and financial corporation but has seen much growth with Tobi as its CEO.
As a child, Tobi grew up pretty poor. He lived in a large family with his mother, father, and 4 siblings; Tobi being the middle child. Together they lived in a small, run-down apartment on the second floor. The living conditions for this apartment weren't the most favorable, but they at least had the essentials to get through. His father was nearly never home. He would always be away working several jobs, only returning home to rest at 2 AM and leave again at 5 AM. His mother would regularly be with her children throughout the day, but would have to leave for certain hours to go to work. This would leave the older siblings to take care of the younger ones. Holidays were really the only time the family would get time to all be together. Tobi would be around 7-10 years old at around this time. To be more efficient, the family would assign each other tasks to gain a little more momentum with their current living status. For Tobi, he and his younger brother, Al, would be tasked with going to the local market. So trying to buy some food with the small amount of money they had was tough, so haggling was a difficult task. It was even more difficult knowing they weren't the only unfortunate people to live in the city, so they would inadvertently need to compete with others. In comparison to his quieter brother, Tobi had always been charismatic. He knew that making connections would be the only option to climb up the social ladder, so he would always take the opportunity to talk with as many people when he had the chance to go out. He was good at talking too, he would analyze who he was talking to so he could bring up the best topics of discussion. This did make haggling with pricier food vendors a slightly easier task for Tobi as he would know how to get on their good side.
Life would continue the same as days went by. But with no change, things just felt harder and harder. Now being 14, Tobi would refuse to let this get to him, making him work even harder. However, there were some times when working hard fairly would no longer make the cut. He had even tried getting a fake ID so he could get a job, which did not end up working out. It really frustrated Tobi how, no matter how hard everyone in his family worked, nothing would come out of it. Despite avoiding it, he decided to try something different: stealing. Using the same tactics and charisma as before to his advantage. Despite being taught that honest values are most important, Tobi had to reject this in order to help his family keep going. He and his brother were quite successful at this, which raised a bit of suspicion from some of his family, but they never pressured an answer. Since Tobi was a bit older now, he would go out on his own to get more snacks, but not for himself. He would steal small snacks and tuck them in his bag for the next school day. And once he got to school, he would sell them for a considerably higher price. With the school not selling any of these snacks themselves and having famously bad lunches, it wasn't too hard to convince a good amount of sugar-obsessed kids. He would hide this money from his family, only offering it at the most convenient times. Even though the money was his secret, he never spent it on himself and kept it safely secured. He only told this secret to Al, who worried of this being found out by the rest of his family for various reasons.
At this point, Tobi was getting pretty confident with his skills. He would often use the money he made from school and used it to buy some better food, often covering it up to his family as he was just getting a really good deal. Despite this, he would continue his stealing habits to make some extra cash; these habits would now expand to more than just food. Every day, he would go out on his own, excluding his brother so he would not get caught up with his dangerous side-job, to steal anything good he would find. At some point, he would even steal more valuable objects, like expensive jewelry. But no matter how careful he was, there would come the time he would be caught. It was an ordinary day when Tobi noticed a group of wealthy businessmen eating at a high-end restaurant. It's nothing out of ordinary, he would often come by these locations since he knew this was where the rich people resided. Since he couldn't get inside the restaurant, he waited until a few came outside. Two of the men came out, whilst talking with each other. Seeing how they were distracted, Tobi walked past them and did as always. He walked away with no trouble and didn't look back. A week passed and he returned to the same area with the usual plan. While he was distracted, he felt a person grab him. Nervously, he looked back and noticed it was one of the businessmen from the other day. He wasn't hostile and simply asked Tobi if he was the one who stole his watch. Having never been caught, he had no idea what to do. Nevertheless, the look on Tobi’s face made it obvious that he did. The businessman then explained that he noticed he stole from him at the very moment, but wanted to wait a while to see if Tobi would change his mind. Still remaining calm rather than upset, he went on to say how he was quite impressed with his skills. Getting straight to the point, the businessman offered Tobi a trade. If he gave his watch back, he would provide him with an internship within his company. Tobi wasn’t that sure, but not that he didn’t want to, he just wasn’t very trusting. A guy just came up to him smiling after he stole from him and now he’s the one offering him something in return? Taking note of his indecisiveness, the businessman closed out the conversation telling him to think about it. However, he mentioned he would be leaving the city in three days, then handing his card to Tobi. That third day would be the last time Tobi could reach out to him, so he had to make up his mind quickly. He went home still thinking about his encounter. He didn’t tell anybody in his family about the offer. All Tobi could do was cling on to the stolen watch that night. The third day came, still nothing confirmed. While out on his usual tasks with Al, Tobi decides to run to the nearest phone box. He calls the businessman. Everything that happened after that is a bit hard for him to remember. Several businessmen visit his home to bring him to their office. He got a big lecture from his mom. He balances school and an internship for his high school years. And when that’s all over, he officially becomes an employee of the company, and continues to climb from there.
Getting more wealthy and successful by each day, Tobi's corporation stands as one of the largest in the country. He's seen as a reliable and trustworthy person by many. His previous classmates speak highly of him. Past and current employees report having a good experience working with him and in his corporation. His image is very carefully manufactured, of course. Working with Tobi tells a different story. Not necessarily working within his corporation, but rather working with him exclusively. He's ventured into various morally dubious businesses. But it's ethical because he gets something good in return: money.
