Ever wonder how someone can make money from old metal? Meet Adam Weitsman, who makes $8 million every month by recycling metal others throw away. He started with a small family junkyard and turned it into a huge money-making business worth $1.5 billion!
He’s also really popular on the internet, with 20 million people following him on Instagram. People love to see how he runs his metal recycling business and learn from his story.
Let’s find out how a regular person like Adam turned old metal into so much money. His story has good times and bad times, and it shows that anyone can be successful if they work hard and learn from their mistakes.
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Who is Adam Weitsman?
Adam Weitsman is a successful American business owner who runs Upstate Shredding – Weitsman Recycling, the biggest private metal recycling company on the East Coast. Born in Owego, New York, in 1968, he turned his family’s small car parts junkyard into a huge business that now operates in many states. He did this by buying other companies and using new technology to make his business better. His company has won many awards, including being named the Best Scrap Metal Company in 2015 and 2016.
Adam doesn’t just work with metal. He started other businesses too, like Viridium LLC, which works with digital money called cryptocurrency. He also owns some fancy restaurants like Elephant The Dove and The Krebs. He gives all the money these restaurants make to help women and children in need. He loves art too – he once gave his collection of old pottery worth $10 million to the New York State Museum!
He lives by Skaneateles Lake with his wife Kim and their three kids, running his businesses while helping his community.
Estimated Net Worth (2025): $1.2B–$1.5B
Primary Growth: Scrap metal demand, crypto expansion, strategic acquisitions, and real estate appreciation.
Growing Up and Starting Out
Adam was born on June 13, 1968, in Owego, New York. His dad owned a small junkyard called Ben Weitsman & Son, so Adam learned about metal recycling when he was just a kid.
After finishing school at Owego Free Academy, Adam went to college to study art. He liked old pottery so much that he opened an art shop in New York City, where he sold American pottery and other art pieces.
In the early 1990s, Adam’s sister got very sick and died from cancer. This made him want to move back home to help his dad run the family junkyard. This sad time in his life led him to start something much bigger than he ever thought possible.
Starting His Big Business
In 1996, Adam borrowed $10 million from the bank to buy a big machine that could crush cars and other metal things. He wanted to make his dad’s small junkyard into a bigger business called Upstate Shredding.
Things got hard when the company that was supposed to set up his new machine went out of business. Adam tried some wrong ways to fix his money problems and got in trouble. He had to spend eight months in Otisville prison in 2003.
After getting out of prison, Adam started over the right way. He began by recycling old car parts, then got bigger jobs with companies like IBM. Soon, he was even helping tear down old bridges for the state. He showed that you can fix your mistakes and become successful.
Making Money in Different Ways
Now, Adam’s company Upstate Shredding makes $750 million every year. They collect old metal, sell it to factories in other countries, and then buy back new metal pieces called steel beams that they sell to building companies in America.
Adam is smart about not putting all his money in one place. He owns some fancy restaurants in Syracuse and Binghamton. In 2021, he also started a company called Viridium LLC that makes money from computer stuff.
His company has grown by buying 16 other metal recycling businesses. This made his company big and strong. It’s like putting many small puzzle pieces together to make one big picture.
How Much Money He Has Now
In 2024, Adam has $1.5 billion! That’s way more than the $980 million he had before. His business keeps getting bigger and making more money as time goes on.
His money comes from different places. Most of it is from his 17 recycling yards all over the East Coast. He also owns buildings that he rents out, and his other businesses help make him more money too.
Other business people think Adam is good at what he does. He won the Best Business Leader Award and his company was named Best Recycling Company in 2015 and 2016.
Adam Weitsman Net Worth Analysis
| Income Source | Financial Details |
|---|---|
| Upstate Shredding Recycling | Generates $750M annually; operates 15 facilities across NY/PA. Valued at ~$1.2B due to market leadership and 7.8% CAGR growth in metal recycling. |
| Cryptocurrency Ventures | Founded Viridium LLC (2021); invested $25M in a Tioga County mining facility. Acquired a $1.6M NFT in 2023, signaling diversification into digital assets. |
| Real Estate Holdings | Owns multiple estates on Skaneateles Lake, including a $6M property slated for demolition to expand his compound. Total portfolio exceeds $15M. |
| Restaurant Ventures | Profits from The Krebs (donated to charity), Elephant and The Dove, and Rise N Shine Italian. Combined annual revenue is estimated at $5M. |
| Art Collection | Donated $10M stoneware collection to NY State Museum; retains additional high-value artworks. |
| Investments & Stocks | Holds shares in Valaris plc and undisclosed tech startups. SEC filings show active trading in the energy and materials sectors. |
| Philanthropy | Has donated >$5M since 2010, including $175K to Boys & Girls Clubs and $1M pledges tied to Syracuse basketball victories. |
How He Runs His Business
Adam learned that being honest and nice to people is super important. He always tries to be fair to his workers and customers and makes sure everyone gets treated with respect.
He uses new machines and computers to sort metal better and faster than other companies. This helps his business work better and make more money.
One of his best ideas was to grow his business slowly and carefully. After making mistakes by trying to grow too fast at first, he now makes sure each new step is solid before taking another one.
Getting Better After Hard Times
After his time in prison, Adam worked hard to show people they could trust him again. He made sure to always tell the truth and do things the right way. This made people want to work with him again.
He shares his story on the internet to help other business owners learn from what happened to him. His Instagram posts aren’t just to show off – they help teach other people about business.
Adam says that going through hard times can help you become better. He learned to think about what might happen in the future instead of just thinking about it right now. He helps other people see that making mistakes doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.
How His Business Works Today
These days, Adam’s company recycles millions of pounds of metal every year. They use special machines to sort the metal, and they’re very careful not to hurt the environment while they work.
His company has grown into one of the biggest metal recycling businesses in America. They work with construction companies, factories, and the government, which shows how far they’ve come from the small family junkyard where it all started.
Even though he’s really rich now, Adam still acts like a regular person. He married Kim Weitsman in 2006 and has three kids. He lives in upstate New York and helps people in his hometown, showing that you can be successful while still being nice and normal.
Want to learn about other people who started small and became successful? Check out our other stories about smart business owners who turned their good ideas into successful companies!
