Adam Weitsman’s Impressive Net Worth Is From Recycling Business

Adam Weitsman has made a name and significant wealth for himself through expanding on the entrepreneurship started by his grandfather starting in 1938. The 53-year-old is the owner and CEO of a successful scrap metal shredding and recycling company, Upstate Shredding-Weitsman Recycling.

The original business founded by Weitsman’s grandfather Ben was an auto parts company with a small scrapyard called Ben Weitsman & Son, Inc. In 1996, Weitsman thought of his own company and soon purchased 17 acres in Owego, N.Y., for the shredding plant. Upstate Shredding-Weitsman Recycling is privately held.

Upstate Shredding-Weitsman Recycling has become an industry leader that currently operates in 15 locations across New York and Pennsylvania. Weitsman acquired the family business in 2005 and also acquired other companies to keep expanding.

The firm won the Industry Leadership Award in Scrap and Recycling from S&P Global Platts at their Global Metals Awards in 2014 and 2016. In 2015 and 2016, American Metal Market named Upstate Shredding the Scrap Company of the Year in the large company category.

Upstate Shredding aims to be environmentally friendly. Most of the operations at the Owego plant are conducted indoors to reduce environmental impact. The use of foam rather than water for shredding is also meant to suppress dust and reduce fire risk, the company website states.

According to Metal Recycling Market, the market for metal recycling like Upstate Shredding offers is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8 percent from 2020 to 2025 (from $52.1 billion in 2019 to $76.1 billion by 2025).

According to estimates from ExactNetWorth.com, Weitsman has a total net worth of about $1.2 billion. The scrap metal and recycling company he founded brings in about $750 million in sales each year.

In addition to donating his $10 million stoneware collection to the state museum, Weitsman supports other community enrichment efforts. He helped restore the Krebs restaurant, whose net profits he donates to women’s and children’s charities in New York.

He supports the Boys & Girls Club organizations, organizations that conduct cancer and ALS research, and various other nonprofits and charitable organizations, particularly at the state and local level.

Weitsman isn't solely focused on the shredding and recycling business. Beginning in his teen years, Weitsman gained an interest in early American stoneware after his father and grandfather unearthed two valuable pieces in a scrapyard in 1980.

Weitsman’s collection grew steadily for years until it was worth millions of dollars. A historian emeritus of the state museum, John Scherer, offered to display the pieces.

Weitsman said, “He convinced me that donating them was a way to keep them together and make sure the public would be able to see them,” according to The New York Times. He donated his complete collection to the New York State Museum, located in Albany, N.Y.

Weitsman lives on Skaneateles Lake in New York with his family. Married to his wife Kim since 2006, the couple has three children together.