Sam Zell
Samuel Zell is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. A former lawyer, Zell is the founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments, a private investment firm focused on building real estate-related businesses in emerging markets, founded in 1968.
- In 1969, Sam Zell started Equity Group Investments, which today invests in industries like energy, logistics and healthcare.
- The forefather of modern real estate investment trusts, Zell chairs five public companies, including one of the nation’s largest residential REIT’s.
- His $39 billion sale of office REIT Equity Office to Blackstone just before the market crashed in 2007 was among the largest real estate deals ever.
- Around the same time, he led an $8.2 billion buyout of newspaper owner Tribune Company, which quickly went bankrupt.
- As a college student Zell managed a 15-unit student apartment building in exchange for a free room. His enterprise was netting $150,000 by graduation.
