Jan Szilagyi
Co-Founder & CEO
FinTech, AI, Entrepreneur
New York, NY, USA
Listen to Jan’s Podcast!
Jan Szilagyi is the Co-Founder of Reflexivity (f.k.a. Toggle AI).
Jan Szilagyi has the record for fastest-ever Harvard Economics PhD (2.5 years), studying under Ken Rogoff. He spent most of his career with Stanley Druckenmiller at Duquesne Capital but is now the co-founder of TOGGLE AI, a 39-person startup that uses machine learning to turn institutional-grade data into insights for investors of all stripes. He was co-CIO of global macro at Lombard Odier and also managed portfolios at Fortress. In addition to his Economics PhD, he holds BA and MA degrees in Mathematics and Economics from Yale.
Jan’s parents were Slovenia (mom) and Hungarian (dad) and Jan grew up in Slovenia. He was very keen to explore the world and somehow it got it into his head that he wanted to study abroad. He applied to a few schools in the US and eventually ended up at Yale University. Jan Szilagyi says, ‘for someone like me, the range of topics you could study at a liberal arts school was really exciting. It was like an academic all-you-can-eat buffet. I eventually narrowed my interests down to mathematics and some graduate courses in mathematical economics, but not before taking some fascinating courses in European history, Italian literature, experimental physics and so on.’
Jan’s college roommate’s father worked at Duquesne Capital, a prominent New York hedge fund. “He invited me to meet his boss, Stanley Druckenmiller. I was in Boston at the time, just starting a PhD in Economics at Harvard. I met with Stan at the Duquesne Capital offices for what seemed like 5 minutes. I can’t remember what we talked about but I did not leave thinking I had nailed it. I started walking home and five blocks later, I received a call –I was hired. I dropped out of Harvard the following Monday and haven’t looked back since.”
“There have been a number of people who have had an influence on my professional career. In graduate school, Professors Ken Rogoff, John Campbell and Andrei Shleifer advised my PhD thesis and dedicated enormous amounts of time to my research. We used to have calls even on Saturdays and Sundays — not the norm in academia. Prof. Shleifer and I would go for long runs along the Charles river to discuss the thornier issues that would come up. Similarly, Stan Druckenmiller took a chance on me when I had nothing but a fancy school pedigree. He gave me a start in the industry and supported me at a number of critical points in my career, including most recently when we started TOGGLE. He was the first to offer encouragement to take the plunge, and ultimately financially backed the endeavor as well.”
Jan Szilagyi is also featured on our premiere Features Page, and you can read his podcast interview transcript.
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