Tom Adams (entrepreneur)

Tom Adams
Born 1972 (age 42–43)
Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation Businessman and entrepreneur
Citizenship Sweden, United Kingdom, United States
Education University of Bristol (A.B.)
INSEAD (M.B.A.)
Notable awards

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award
2009
Executive of the Year by American Business Awards
2009

Smart CEO of the Year
2009
Years active 1994–present

Tom P.H. Adams (born 1972) is a Swedish-American technology executive. As of October 2014 he is the President and Founder of Workaround, a tech incubator based in Arlington, Virginia; Co-Founder and Chairman of Pedago, an educational technology company; and Founder and Chairman of the Board of Bizy, a business management solutions company. Before Workaround, Adams was on the management committee of the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rosetta Stone, a language learning technology company.[1]

Adams has won numerous awards for business and entrepreneurship during his career, notably the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, 2009.[2]

Early Life and Education

Adams grew up in Sweden and France before moving to England at the age of 10 with his parents. He learned both French and English through language immersion, which inspired an early passion for language learning and cross-culture communication.[3][4][5] He holds a B.A. with honors from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom and an M.B.A. from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.[5]

Career

In his twenties, Adams worked as a commodities trader of copper at Trafigura, which brought him to live in Mongolia for six years, and to travel to the Philippines, China, Slovakia and D.R. Congo.[5] He also lived in Switzerland and China before moving to the United States in 2003, when he started collaboration with the founders of Rosetta Stone, then a small family company based in Harrisonburg, Virginia.[6]

After graduating from business school, Adams met the leaders of Rosetta Stone (then Fairfield & Sons Ltd.) and in February 2003 began his almost nine year tenure as Chief Executive Officer of the company.[3] He brought the company public in 2009, after just six years as leading executive, and left the company for Bridgewater Associates in 2013.[7][8]

Honors

Personal life

Adams currently resides in Washington, D.C.

References

  1. ↑ "Three Directors to Leave Rosetta Stone". Virginia Business. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Tom Adams, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009 Overall National Winner". EY Global. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lizzie Fane. "Interview with Tom Adams, Chairman of the Board for Rosetta Stone". ThirdYearAbroad.com. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Christopher Elliott. "Rosetta Stone’s Adams: World travelers should learn Spanish, Chinese". Elliott. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hope Katz Gibbs. "Insights on business from Rosetta Stone CEO Tom Adams". BeInkanddescent. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  6. ↑ Lora Kolodny. "Going Public in the Throes of a Recession". the New York Times. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Bruner, Robert; Eades, Kenneth; Schill, Michael (2013). Case Studies in Finance. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. p. 635-356.
  8. ↑ "Rosetta Stone Inc. Announces Changes to Board of Directors". Rosetta Stone Inc. Retrieved 21 October 2014.