Penny Pritzker profile

Types	Person, Business Person
Date of Birth	1959
Gender	Female

Grandchild of A.N. Pritzker (d. 1986), who, with sons Jay (d. 1999) and Robert, created industrial conglomerate Marmon (sales: $7 billion) and hotel chain Hyatt (735 hotels worldwide). Plan to pass... more » Grandchild of A.N. Pritzker (d. 1986), who, with sons Jay (d. 1999) and Robert, created industrial conglomerate Marmon (sales: $7 billion) and hotel chain Hyatt (735 hotels worldwide). Plan to pass control of empire to Jay's son Tom, cousin Nick and niece Penny collapsed in 2001; family agreed to split empire 11 ways, drawing lawsuit by Robert's 2 youngest children, Matthew and Liesel. Settled for $1 billion. Dynastic carve-up in full swing. Sold undisclosed stake in Hyatt to the Walton family's private equity firm, Madrone Capital, and Goldman Sachs for $1 billion last August. Five months later sold 60% of Marmon to Berkshire Hathaway for $4.5 billion; will sell remainder by 2014.

Every president gets one freebie cabinet appointment to install a best pal. Bush stuck Don Evans at Commerce. Chatter has the Hyatt Hotel heiress filling that role. She was an early Obama patron--causing some of his old Chicago rivals to portray him as a puppet of the Jews. This race, Obama's national finance chair did her own version of the great schlep, vouching for him with skeptical bubbes and zeides.

According to her official bio:

Penny Pritzker is CEO and founder of Pritzker Realty Group L.L.C, a newly formed company. Under its management is the Hyatt Center in downtown Chicago, headquarters for Global Hyatt Corporation and winner of multiple awards for its architecture and design.

An innovative entrepreneur, Pritzker serves as chairman of two other companies that she founded: Classic Residence by Hyatt, hotel-style luxury living for older adults, and The Parking Spot, an off-site airport parking management company. She is chairman of TransUnion Corporation, a credit data and information management business, and sits on the board of Global Hyatt Corporation.

Public education is a major priority for Pritzker who serves on the board of the Chicago Public Education Fund, chairs a Blue Ribbon Task Force for Chicago Public Schools entitled “Leading to Great Principals”, and is a founding board member of Young Women’s Leadership Charter School. Through the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation, Pritzker and her husband, Dr. Bryan Traubert, are funding three programs designed to benefit Chicago students but that can be extended nationally if validated by results.

A member of the Chicago 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, Pritzker also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Real Estate Roundtable, and the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. She is a life trustee and former Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art.

She currently serves as National Finance Chair for the Barack Obama presidential campaign.

Pritzker earned her bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University and J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Stanford University. She was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1985. « less