Tony Smurfit is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Smurfit Kappa Group plc (SKG), one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging solutions in the world.

He was Chief Operations Officer from November 2002 to September 2015 and he has held a number of other management positions having worked in various parts of the organisation both in the United States and Europe since he joined the company in 1986. He was elected to the Board of Directors in 1989.

Today Smurfit Kappa operates in 35 countries globally and employs 46,000 people. The company is currently listed on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges and has a market capitalisation of approximately €10.5 billion.

He was born in Wigan, England in 1963 and following his early schooling in Ireland, he attended the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania where he graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Management Science.

He is a former Director of Aer Rianta (the Irish Airport Authority which is owned by the Irish Government), the Irish National Stud (an Irish Government owned operation),  C&C plc and Ibec (Irish Business Employers Confederation). He currently sits on the Board of CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries) and is a Member of ERT (European Round Table for Industry).

He was appointed Honorary Consul of Mexico to Ireland in 2003 and was honoured by the French Government in 2004 when he was nominated Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour. He was subsequently nominated Commander of the French Legion of Honour in 2017. He holds an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration and is a member of the Turf Club of Ireland.

He is married to Sharon and they have 4 children.