Antonín Zak, BSBA, MBA

Experience

Antonín Zak’s life story is the embodiment of the American Dream. Born and raised in Strakonice, Czech Republic, he emigrated with his family to the United States, shortly after his high school graduation. After he completed college, Mr. Zak began his career with small jobs, including messenger´s post at the New York Stock Exchange, before working his way up to senior management positions in several international companies

From 1985 to 1989, he was Vice President and General Manager of Benati USA, Inc., an American subsidiary of an Italian manufacturer of construction machinery. Subsequently, he served as Vice President for The Italian Economic Corporation, a branch of Italy´s BNL Bank where he was responsible for the overall support and introduction of Italian industrial manufacturers to the North American markets.

In 1992, Mr. Zak took a position as Director of International Operations of an American company, Sanborn Inc. which produced centrifuges and filtration machinery for recycling of oil and metal cutting fluids. In this capacity he oversaw expansion of the company’s production capacities to Central Europe. Sanborn, Inc. expanded into the Czech Republic through the privatization and purchase of the ESB division in Velké Meziříčí.

A few years later, Mr. Zak purchased the Czech and the Dutch divisions of Sanborn Inc., which became known as Sanborn A.S, and ended the affiliation with the American company. Under his management, Sanborn A.S. grew not only to be highly profitable but also became one of the top specialists in precision component machining in the Czech Republic. Antonín Zak served as the CEO until 2017 when Sanborn A.S. was sold to Genesis, a Private Equity fund.