Samuel Zell | |
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| Born | Shmuel Zielonka (1941-09-28)September 28, 1941 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | May 18, 2023(2023-05-18) (aged 81) |
| Education | University of Michigan (BA,JD) |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, philanthropist, lawyer |
| Title | Chairman,Equity Residential,Equity International,EQ Office,Covanta,Tribune Media, andAnixter |
| Spouse | Helen Herzog Fadim Zell (3rd wife) |
| Children | 3 |
Samuel Zell (bornShmuel Zielonka; September 28, 1941 – May 18, 2023) was an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist primarily engaged in real estate investment. Companies founded by or controlled by Zell includeEquity Residential,Equity International,EQ Office,Covanta,Tribune Media, andAnixter.
Zell was born on September 28, 1941, inChicago.[1] His parents, Ruchla, later Rochelle, and Berek, later Bernard, Zielonka, wereJews who immigrated from Poland four months before his birth to escape theInvasion of Poland by theNazis.[2][3] In Poland, his father was a grain trader.[2][4] They immigrated to the United States with their young daughter, Leah, via Russia and Tokyo, pretending to be tourists at theBolshoi Ballet so as not to stand out.[5][6][2][7] They then moved fromSeattle toAlbany Park, Chicago, where his father became a wholesalejeweler who also made successful investments in real estate and the stock market.[3][2] In eighth grade, Zell took pictures at hisprom and sold them. He later boughtPlayboy magazines in downtown Chicago and resold them to his classmates inHebrew school for a 200% markup.[3] When he was twelve, the family moved toHighland Park, Illinois, where he graduated fromHighland Park High School.[2] In 1963, Zell graduated with a bachelor's degree from theUniversity of Michigan, where he was also a member of theAlpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.[2]
While in school, Zell managed a 15-unit apartment building in return for freeroom and board.[2] By the time of his graduation, he was managing several properties and was netting $150,000.[8] Joined by his fraternity brotherRobert H. Lurie, he won a contract with a large apartment development owner inAnn Arbor. In 1966, he graduated with aJ.D. from theUniversity of Michigan Law School.[9] By that time, he and Lurie were managing over 4,000 apartments and owned 100–200 units outright. After school, he sold his interest in the management company to Lurie and moved to Chicago.[2]
After graduation, Zell worked as a lawyer for one week before deciding that the legal profession was not for him. With funding from one of the senior partners, Zell purchased a 99-unit apartment building in Toledo.[2] In 1967, he purchased a profitable apartment complex inReno, Nevada, later spending a lot of time in Reno, calling it a "hidden gem" from a real estate investment perspective. In 1969, he was introduced toJay Pritzker, who provided him with funding.[10] He acquiredArlington Towers, then the tallest building in Reno, for $9 million.[6][11] To convince the owners to sell, Zell's brother-in-law conceived offshore transactions, the legality of which was described as "murky", to shield the sellers from tax liability; Zell reached a deal with theInternal Revenue Service to avoid prosecution in exchange for his testimony while Zell's brother-in-law served 2 years of jail time.[6]
In 1968, Zell founded the predecessor ofEquity Residential and was joined a year later by his former partner,Robert H. Lurie. Lurie died of cancer in 1990 at age 48.[12] During the1973–1975 recession, Zell was able to acquire many bankrupt properties for almost nothing as lenders did not want to foreclose and Zell provided financial plans that would enable the lenders to be repaid.[10] During theearly 1990s recession, Zell had personally guaranteed $600 million in loans and was working 80 hour weeks to resolve them. He then pursued taking in more investors to spread the risk. In August 1993, after acquiring a large portfolio fromBarry Sternlicht in exchange for a 20% stake in the company, the company became apublic company via aninitial public offering.[13][14] At that time, the company owned 22,000 apartments.[15]
In 1976, Zell founded the predecessor toEQ Office to invest in office buildings.[16] In 1988, he co-founded the first of four Zell/Merrill Lynch Real Estate Opportunity Partners Funds; these were consolidated into EQ Office in 1997. In 2006,The Blackstone Group acquired the company for $36 billion in the largestleveraged buyout in history at the time, then selling off the portfolio in pieces; both Zell and Blackstone had impeccable timing, selling just before the2007–2008 financial crisis.[17]
In 1984, Zell founded Equity Lifestyle Properties. It owns more than 400trailer parks or mobile home parks.[18]
In 1985, Zell acquired Itel Corporation, a diversified transportation and logistics company, shortly after it emerged from bankruptcy.[19] In 1986, he acquiredAnixter, remaining in charge until it was sold in 2020. In 2004, he acquiredCovanta via a 363 bankruptcy sale process.
In 1991, in partnership with Chilmark Partners, Zell co-founded Zell/Chilmark, a $1 billion investment fund, to invest indistressed securities. That year, it acquired $550 million in junk bonds and vendor claims against Carter Hawley stores, the parent ofBroadway Stores, eventually taking control; it was sold to Federated Stores (nowMacy's, Inc.) in 1995.[20][19] In 1992, the fund invested $250 million in drugstoreRevco, then in bankruptcy; it received $363.8 million for its stake whenRite Aid acquired the brand in 1995.[21] In 1992, it acquired an interest inJacor, a radio broadcast group that included a television station, which was sold toClear Channel Communications in 1999.[22] It acquiredSchwinn Bicycle Company from bankruptcy for $60 million in 1993; it was sold for $86 million in 1997.[23] It acquired energy companySanta Fe Energy Resources in 1993.[24] It also acquired mattress companySealy Corporation.[25] In 1994, it infused $25 million intoMidway Airlines for a 90% stake.
In December 2007, in aleveraged buyout, Zell acquired control ofTribune Media, owner of theChicago Tribune,The Baltimore Sun,Newsday,The Hartford Courant, and other newspapers as well as theChicago Cubs andWrigley Field. For the $8.2 billion acquisition, Zell only invested $315 million of his own money, all in the form of debt.[26]
In a decision sharply criticized by the employees, Zell immediately putRandy Michaels, a former radio executive and disc jockey with no newspaper experience, in charge. Michaels allegedly created a hostile workplace and culture promoting sexual harassment and debasement, with executives openly discussing the "sexual suitability" of employees in the office. He also oversaw 4,200 layoffs while giving large bonuses to the executives and hosting lavish beer-and-poker parties in the office of former publisherRobert R. McCormick, long considered a shrine. Michaels resigned in October 2010.[27]
In December 2008, less than a year after Zell acquired the company, due to the increased debt and the effects of theGreat Recession, the company filed the largest bankruptcy in the history of the American media industry, listing $7.6 billion in assets against a debt of $13 billion.[28]
In January 2009, as part of the bankruptcy reorganization, Zell sold theChicago Cubs,Wrigley Field, and the 25% interest in Comcast SportsNet Chicago toJoe Ricketts and family for $900 million.[29] Zell relinquished control of Tribune upon its emergence from bankruptcy in December 2012.
In 2019, Zell and other former Tribune executives paid $200 million to settle allegations of fraud for alleged "unlawful" dividends and fraudulent transfers as part of the acquisition of Tribune, from which executives received $107 million.[30][1]
In 1983, Zell endowed theWharton School of the University of Pennsylvania's Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center.[31] In 1999, Zell endowed the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at theUniversity of Michigan.[32][33] He also endowed the Helen Zell Writers’ Program and theMaster of Fine Arts Creative Writing Program at the University of Michigan.[34] He funded the establishment of the Zell Center for Risk Research[35] and the Zell Scholar Program at Northwestern University'sKellogg School of Management.[36]
In 2012, Zell donated $10 million to theMuseum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.[37] In 2014, he donated $17 million to theChicago Symphony Orchestra.[38]
In 2014, Zell donated $10 million toStart Early (formerly The Ounce of Prevention Fund), which promotes early childhood development in underserved communities in Illinois.[39]
Zell donated $3.1 million dollars to theHerzliya Interdisciplinary Center in Israel.[5] Zell also donated toIsrael Center for Social and Economic Progress, a free market oriented Israelithink tank founded byDaniel Doron, theAmerican Jewish Committee and theBernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, a Chicago Jewish primary school named after his father.[40] In 2015, Zell donated over $10 million to Chicagoland Jewish High School, which renamed the school toRochelle Zell Jewish High School, after Zell's mother.[41][42]
Zell married three times and divorced twice; he had three children:[8] son, Matthew and daughter, Joann Zell Gillis, from his first marriage to Janet (née Skolnick) Zell Kessler; and an adopted daughter, Kellie Zell Peppet, from his second marriage.[2] His second marriage began in 1979 and ended in 1994.[6] His third wife was Helen (née Herzog) Fadim Zell.[2][6] He had nine grandchildren.[43]
Zell was an avid motorcycle rider. He often rode hisDucati to work at high speeds and he once rode a motorcycle at 145 miles per hour (233 km/h) across thepampas. He formed Zell’s Angels, a group of mostly business tycoons who would ride motorcycles worldwide. Zell also was a skier, racquetball player, paintball enthusiast, and sports fan.[3][1]
Zell had homes in Chicago,Sun Valley, Idaho, andMalibu, California.[3][8][44] In 1998, he bought a 12,000-square-foot home inMalibu, California, designed byJohn Lautner for $13 million.[45]
As of February 2023, Zell had an estimated net worth of US $5.3 billion, according toForbes.[8]
In May 2017, Zell's book,Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk From a Business Rebel, detailing his business philosophy on finding business and investment opportunities anywhere, was published by Portfolio.[46]
Zell died on May 18, 2023, at the age of 81 after a short illness.[47][1]
Zell donated $100,000 toRestore Our Future, theSuper PAC supporting theMitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign.[48] In 2015 he donated $50,000 to theJohn BoltonSuper-PAC.[49] In 2019, he and his wife each donated $75,000 to the campaign ofMayor of ChicagoLori Lightfoot.[50] He has also made smaller contributions to members of both the Democratic Party and Republican Party.[51]
Zell often used language considered "salty",[52] "obscenity-laced",[53] and vulgar.[54][55]
