Royal Media Services (RMS) owner and Chairman Dr. S.K Macharia has opened up about his life as a student in the United States, saying he moved to the US to study after winning the Kennedy Airlifts Scholarship in 1962.
Speaking during a prize-giving ceremony at Kahuhia Girls High School on Saturday, the billionaire businessman said he used to work as a sweeper in a bid to raise college tuition.
Macharia said he worked as a sweeper at giant aircraft manufacturer Boeing for nine years.
“When I was in the US, I worked at night and went to school during the day. Do you know a company called Boeing that makes big planes in Seattle? I swept their floors for eight years,” he says.
Macharia first enrolled in Seattle Technical College before taking a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at Seattle Pacific University two years later.
He later graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Washington.
“I paid my school fees by working at night and going to school during the day, so there’s nothing that you cannot achieve,” the tycoon has told students during the event.
“You don’t have to be assisted by anybody but if you get assistance, it’s just a small push. It’s all about what you are doing for yourself that will make you a person and you will be proud of yourself.”
Macharia now owns Royal Media Services the largest private radio and television network in Eastern Africa.
He has taken advantage of his wealth to control media in Kenya and made sure that he bought all frequencies such that if one wants to open like a radio station he must consult him.
Its flagship outlets are Citizen TV and Radio Citizen.
In 2012, he was on a top 10 list by Forbes magazine of African millionaires to watch.
Macharia was on the 2013 Africa Report of the 50 most influential Africans.
He was honoured with the 2015 Eastern Africa Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Lifetime Achievement Award.
He also has investments in real estate and hospitality industries.
Macharia is married to Purity Gathoni Macharia and they have six children (two girls and four boys).
Gathoni is a sister to former Kenyan Cabinet Minister Njeru Githae and Syracuse University professor Micere Githae Mugo.
Fun fact: SK Macharia is best known for bring toilet paper to Kenya.