# Marcin Kleczynski

> Marcin Kleczynski is the co-founder and CEO of Malwarebytes. Born in Poland and raised around Chicago, he began building malware-removal tools after infecting his family’s computer as a teenager. He formally launched Malwarebytes with Bruce Harrison in 2008, completed a computer science degree at Illinois in 2012, and continues to lead its expansion into device, identity and privacy protection.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Malwarebytes
- **Organizations:** Malwarebytes
- **From:** Łódź, Poland
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- **Known for:** EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award, 2014., Silicon Valley Business Journal 40 Under 40, 2014., Forbes 30 Under 30 in Enterprise Technology, 2015.

## Career timeline

- **2004** — Began developing free malware-removal utilities; Malwarebytes traces its origins to this period.
- **2008** — Launched Malwarebytes Anti-Malware with Bruce Harrison on January 21.
- **2012** — Graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS in computer science.
- **2014** — Malwarebytes announced $30 million in funding led by Highland Capital Partners.
- **2016** — Malwarebytes announced a $50 million investment from Fidelity.
- **2023** — Introduced ThreatDown as the brand for Malwarebytes business products on November 7.
- **2026** — Discussed evolving cybersecurity threats and company strategy on the Grit podcast on February 23.

## Achievements

- EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award, 2014.
- Silicon Valley Business Journal 40 Under 40, 2014.
- Forbes 30 Under 30 in Enterprise Technology, 2015.
- Built Malwarebytes while completing a computer science degree.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Malwarebytes announced a ChatGPT integration on February 2; Kleczynski emphasized accessible security guidance.
- **2026-02** — Appeared on Kleiner Perkins’ Grit podcast on February 23 to discuss AI-driven threats and adapting Malwarebytes.
- **2026-09** — Malwarebytes released research on September 2 about how scam types differ by delivery platform.

## Links

- Website: https://www.kleczynski.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcinkleczynski/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/mkleczynski

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/marcin-kleczynski
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23