Tom Szaky
Co-Founder and Chief Executive OFficer, TerraCycle, Inc.

Tom Szaky is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of TerraCycle, Inc., producer of the world’s first product made from and packaged in waste.  TerraCycle Plant Food has been recently named the most eco-friendly product in Home Depot, and received a number of awards for its business model and environmental stewardship.

Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1982, Mr. Szaky emigrated from Hungary to Holland. In 1989 he and his family emigrated again from Holland to Canada. At 14 he started his first business, a web design company called Flyte Design, which employed three associates and earned its young proprietor a five-figure income. Flyte Design also earned a number of Canadian national design awards. Mr. Szaky then engaged in the start-up of three small 'dot.com' companies: Werehome.com (an online home improvement site), piority.com (an online fundraising school), and studentmarks.com (online grade tracking software).

While in secondary school, Mr. Szaky was also active in community service and philanthropy.  As a third-year student, he cycled solo from Toronto to Vancouver to raise $4000 for the environmental organization Ontario Naturalists, setting a national speed record of 21 days for such a bike ride. As a fourth-year student, he organized and directed a full-scale fashion show, managing a volunteer staff of 200 people, which raised $35,000.

Mr. Szaky came to the United States in 2001 when he matriculated as a freshman at Princeton University.  In 2002, Mr. Szaky took a leave of absence to dedicate himself full-time to starting TerraCycle, Inc., beginning as a 2 man outfit in the crowded basement of an old office building in Princeton.