John Pritzker

John A. Pritzker (born 1953), the grandson of A.N. Pritzker and son of Jay Pritzker, is an American billionaire and investor. He is a member of the Pritzker family.

John A. Pritzker
Born	1953 (age 66–67) Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Education	B.A. Menlo College, University of Denver
Occupation	Private Equity, Philanthropy
Known for	Founding Partner/Director
Net worth	US$ 2.5 billion (October 2018)[1]
Children	Adam Pritzker Noah Pritzker Samuel Pritzker
Parent(s)	Jay Pritzker Marian "Cindy" Friend
Family	Nancy Pritzker (sister-Deceased) Thomas Pritzker (brother) Daniel Pritzker (brother) Jean "Gigi" Pritzker (sister)

Early life and education

Pritzker was born to a family in Chicago, Illinois,[2] the son of Marian "Cindy" (née Friend) and Jay Pritzker.[3] Pritzker graduated with a B.A. from Menlo College.[1] His father diversified the Chicago-based family business, the Marmon Group - along with his brothers Robert Pritzker and Donald Pritzker - building it into a portfolio of over 60 diversified industrial corporations. He also created the Hyatt Hotel chain in 1957 and owned Braniff Airlines from 1983–1988.[1] The family has been divesting its assets: in 2006, the family sold Conwood, a smokeless tobacco company, for $3.5 billion to cigarette company Reynolds American Inc;[4] in 2007, the family sold control of the Marmon Group to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for $4.5 billion;[1] and in 2010, the family sold its majority stake in Transunion, the Chicago-based credit reporting company, for an undisclosed amount to Chicago-based private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners.[4]

Career

In 1972, Pritzker started his career working in the family business, Hyatt Hotels, where in 1984, he rose to become Managing Director and Divisional Vice President.[5] In 1988, he left Hyatt to pursue his own entrepreneurial activities[6] including Ticketmaster.[7] In 1996, he formed Mandara Spa,[8] a chain of 72 resort spas. In 2000, 40% of the company was sold to Shiseido Co.[9] In 2001, the remaining 60% was sold to Steiner Leisure Limited, a Nasdaq (STNR) listed company.[7][10] In 2005, Pritzker founded the private equity firm Geolo Capital with his Mandara business partner Tom Gottlieb;[6] Geolo Capital focused on investments in hospitality, entertainment, and health & wellness companies.[11] In 2009, Geolo Capital bought the iconic Carmel Valley Ranch from Blackstone. The resort was reimagined and opened in 2012. Soon after Geolo Capital purchased a majority interest in the Joie de Vivre boutique hotel chain. In October 2011, Geolo Capital merged the 30 hotel Joie de Vivre chain with the 12 hotel Thompson Hotel Group[11] to form Commune Hotels & Resorts[1][12].[1] In 2012, Commune operated 46 hotels which generated $450 million in revenues.[13] In January 2016, Commune Hotels merged with Destination Hotels, to form Two Roads Hospitality. With that merger the new company has over 97 hotels across six brands and annual revenues of over $2.3 billion.[14] In November of 2018 Two Roads Hospitality closed on its sale to Hyatt Corporation for a reported price of $480 million.

Personal life and philanthropy

Pritzker and his former wife Lisa Stone have three children.[1][15][16] Pritzker is chair of the John Pritzker Family Fund, which invests in mental health and healthcare, democracy and civic health, Jewish life and the arts. The fund is a major supporter of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC).

In March 2019 the foundation announced a $25 million grant to the India Basin Park Project, and ambitious environmental justice and open space initiative to build a new, accessible and contiguous waterfront park for San Francisco's Bayview community. The fund also supports a mental health speaker series in San Francisco in partnership with the Commonwealth Club, aimed at advancing a community conversation about mental health and exploring promising treatments and innovations across the field.

Pritzker serves on the Executive Council of UCSF Health and the boards of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the Bernard Osher Foundation. He is a member of the Emeritus Board of Tipping Point Community and is a past president of the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation.

References

1. Forbes: The World's Billionaires - John Pritzker June 2015
2. Monterey County Weekly: "Hyatt heir John Pritzker's vision of turning Carmel Valley Ranch into an always-open, everyone-welcome version of summer camp" By Josh Sens may 16, 2013
3. CNN Money: "THE PRITZKERS UNVEILING A PRIVATE FAMILY" By Ford S. Worthy April 25, 1988
4. Chicago Tribune: "Pritzker family could soon own less than half of Hyatt" By Julie Wernau April 19, 2011
5. Geolo Capital: John Pritzker - Founding Partner and Director retrieved July 21, 2013
6. W Magazine: "Pritzker's Prize by Jane Larkworthy August 2010
7. Hotel Management Magazine: "One on One with John Pritzker" By Ruthanne Terrero Archived 2015-06-10 at the Wayback Machine January 21, 2011
8. BusinessWeek: "A Hyatt Heir Who Thinks Small Is Beautiful" by Nadja Brandt February 16, 2012
9. Honolulu star Bulletin: "Spa firm taps Hawaii for worldwide base" By Russ Lynch May 16, 2000
10. Travel Weekly: "Steiner Leisure to buy stake in Mandara Spa" July 2, 2001
11. Chicago Tribune: "The Pritzker family tree" By Melissa Harris and Julie Wernau December 18, 2011
12. San Francisco Gate: John Pritzker, Hyatt heir, likes boutique hotels" by Nadja Brandt February 19, 2012
13. San Francisco Business Journal: "Commune is all inn" by Renée Frojo November 30, 2012
14. "Geolo Capital". www.geolo.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
15. Harris, Melissa; Wernau, Julie (December 18, 2011). "The Pritzker family tree". Chicago Tribune.
16. https://unicourt.com/case/ca-sfc-john-pritzker-vs-lisa-stone-pritzker-480007