Brighton Beach Boy Tops Inc. 5000’s Top Businesses List

Inc. Magazine released their annual Inc. 5000 list, which ranks the fastest-growing U.S-based private companies. Former Brighton Beach resident Oleg Firer tops the list.

Firer co-founded Unified Payments in 2007 at the tender age of 29. His company has since seen a 23,646 percent growth and processes $10 billion worth of transactions for over 100,000 merchants a year.

Firer, who is now 35, arrived in Brighton Beach as a young boy. He says that his family’s financial struggles made him want to succeed in business.

He started his first company,  a cellphone retailer, at 17.

“I got where I am because I wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Firer told Inc., noting that he has since moved to Miami with his family. “I always remember where I came from and that I could end up back there with nothing.”

The 2012 Inc. 500 and Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2008 to 2011. To qualify, among other attributes, a company’s minimum revenue required for 2008 is $100,000 and $2 million for 2011.

Not bad Firer, way to live the American dream.