Penny Pritzker

infobox person
birth_date=1959
birth_place=city-state|Chicago|Illinois
occupation=Executive, fundraiser

Penny Sue Pritzker (b. 1959) is an American business executive, and a member of the Pritzker family of Chicago, one of America's wealthiest families. She is currently Chair of Classic Residence by Hyatt, a chain of luxury senior living communities spread throughout the United States, and the national finance chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Ms. Pritzker is estimated to be the 135th richest person on the Forbes 400 list of "America's wealthiest," with an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion US. [cite web
url = http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/54/richlist07_Penny-Pritzker_CDNP.html
type = printable
title = #135 Penny Pritzker
work = Forbes Magazine
author = Forbes Magazine Staff
date = 20 September 2007
accessdate = 24 September 2008 ]

Biography

Born in 1959, Pritzker is a granddaughter of Abram Nicholas Pritzker (1896–1986), founder of the Hyatt hotel chain, which grew dramatically under his son, Jay Pritzker (1922-1999), who is also her uncle. She attended Castilleja School [cite web
authorlink =http://www.paloaltoonline.com/
title =Around Town
work =Palo Alto Weekly
publisher =Embarcadero Publishing Company
date =2005-11-09
url =http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/2005/2005_11_09.gatown09.shtml
accessdate = 2007-11-27 ] until 1977. [cite web
last =DeBare
first =Ilana
title =Prominent Alumnae of Girls' Schools
work =Where Girls Come First
url =http://www.wheregirlscomefirst.com/alumnae.php
accessdate = 2007-11-27 ] In 1981 she received a BA in Economics from Harvard University later earning a JD/MBA from Stanford University in 1984. [ [http://www.law.stanford.edu/publications/stanford_lawyer/issues/75/sl75_articles.pdf STANFORD LAWYER] ] Penny lives in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago with her two teenage children and her husband, Dr. Bryan Traubert.

Career highlights

* 1987 – founded Classic Residence by Hyatt, now the market leaderFact|date=July 2008 in luxury living for older adults.
* 1991 – named as Chair of Superior Bank of Chicago. Pritzker stepped down in 1994, but remained on the board until the thrift's collapse in July of 2001.
* 1991 – CEO of Pritzker Realty Group, overseeing all of the family’s non-hotel real estate investments. In this capacity she developed the Hyatt Center in downtown Chicago, the headquarters for Global Hyatt Corporation.
* 1998 – founded The Parking Spot, the fastest growing company in off-site airport parking management,Fact|date=July 2008 with CEO Martin Nesbitt. She continues as chair.
* 2005 – became chair of TransUnion, a credit reporting agency. Pritzker serves on the board of Global Hyatt Corporation. She was a board member and chair of the Governance Committee of the William Wrigley Jr. Co. from 1994 to 2005, a director of the Marmon Group from 2002 to 2008, and a director of LaSalle Bank Corporation, now a part of Bank of America, from 2004 to 2007.

With a net worth estimated at $2.8 billionFact|date=July 2008, Pritzker ranked 135th on the 2007 Forbes list of richest Americans.

Philanthropic activities

Pritzker is very much involved in the reform of Chicago’s public education system. Currently she is vice chair [ [http://www.cpef.org/nm_video.htm The Chicago Public Education Fund ] ] [http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/printarticle.asp?article=1481] of the Chicago Public Education Fund, the successor organization to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. [ [http://www.cpef.org/n-10millon-goal.htm New Foundation sets $10 million grants goal] , CPEF Press release, March 5, 2000] ] She also chairs a Blue Ribbon Task Force for Chicago Public Schools entitled “Leading to Great Principals”, and is a founding member of the board of Young Women’s Leadership Charter School. Much of Pritzker’s philanthropy is directed to education as well. Through the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation, Pritzker and her husband, Dr. Bryan Traubert, are funding three programs designed to create long term systemic changes that will benefit Chicago students but also can be extended nationally.

She has sat on Harvard's Board of Overseers since 2002, and currently co-chairs the President’s Advisory Committee on the Allston Initiative, the expansion of the Harvard campus. She also is a member of the Chicago 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games and is chair of the Olympic Village subcommittee.

She is an honorary co-chair of the Children’s Memorial Hospital campaign to build a new $750 million facility. She is a member of 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, and is involved in other civic endeavors, including Chicago's Millennium Park.

Political involvements

Pritzker contributed some $493,174 [ [http://www.newsmeat.com/billionaire_political_donations/Penny_Pritzker.php NEWSMEAT ▷ Penny Pritzker's Federal Campaign Contribution Report ] ] to numerous campaigns and political action committees since the 2000 election cycle. Among the recipients have been the presidential campaigns and exploratory committees, including those of George W. Bush, Joe Lieberman, Bill Bradley, Rudy Giulani, John McCain (2000), Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. [ [http://www.nndb.com/people/447/000122081/ Penny Pritzker ] ]

Since the spring of 2008, Pritzker has served as Barack Obama's National Finance Chair. [cite web
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040400989.html
type = printable
title = Obama's Campaign Takes In $25 Million,He Nearly Matches Clinton, With Twice as Many Donors
work = Washington Post
author = Anne E. Kornblut and Matthew Mosk
date = 5 April 2008
accessdate = 24 September 2008 ] On Wednesday July 2, 2008, Ms. Pritzker and her husband hosted a $28,500 per plate fundraiser for Mr. Obama's campaign in Chicago with Warren Buffet and his wife, and Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. [cite web
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/us/politics/03donate.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/U/United%20States%20Politics%20and%20Government
type =
title = Obama Picks Up Fund-Raising Pace
work = Washington Post
author = MICHAEL LUO and CHRISTOPHER DREW
date = 3 July 2008
accessdate = 24 September 2008 ]

She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. [ [http://www.penny-pritzker.com/penny-pritzker-biography.html Penny S. Pritzker - Biography ] ]

uperior Bank involvement

Ms. Pritzker has been associated with the Subprime mortgage crisis. Ms. Pritzker's late uncle, Jay Pritzker, purchased a 50% stake in Hinsdale, Illinois-based Superior Bank of Chicago in 1989 from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which had taken over the bank when it failed in the late 1980s.cite news|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121660089138069207.html?mod=hps_us_editors_picks|title=A Top Obama Fund-Raiser Had Ties to Failed Bank|last=Emshwiller|first=John R.|date=2008-07-21|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|pages=A10|accessdate=2008-07-21] Penny Pritzker became chairman of the bank in 1991. Under Ms. Pritzker's chairmanship, the bank "embarked on a business strategy of significant growth into subprime home mortgages," according to a 2002 report by the United States Treasury Department. She stepped down from the chairmanship (a largely titular role) in 1994 but continued to serve on the board of the holding company, Coast to Coast. In the months leading up to the 2001 seizure, the Pritzker family tried to work out a major recapitalization plan to "once again restore Superior's leadership position in subprime lending." In July 2001, FDIC seized the bank after the recapitalization could not be resolved. .cite news|url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_37/b3748102.htm?chan=search|title=The Pritzkers' Empire Trembles: Can a new generation halt the slide in the family's fortunes? |last=Weber|first=Joseph|coauthors= Woellert, Lorraine|date=2001-09-10|publisher= [BusinessWeek] /gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E4D71E3CF934A3575BC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title=A Partnership Frays After An S.& L. Fails; In Laying Blame, Trying to Sort Out One Deal Maker's Complicated Legacy|last=Barboza|first=David|date=2001-08-07|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-07-21] cite news|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8324820_ITM|title=Regulators close Chicago-area bank|last=Allison|first=Melissa|coauthors= Neikirk, William |date=2001-07-27|publisher=The Chicago Tribune|accessdate=2008-07-21] Subsequently, the Pritzker family reached an agreement with regulators to pay $460 million over 15 years toward the costs of the closure; these funds will go towards reducing the costs of the FDIC's losses and partially reimburse depositors with accounts in excess of FDIC insurance limits. /archivesearch%3Fq%3Dracketeering%2Bpritzker%2Bsuperior%26btnG%3DSearch%26um%3D1 Primary Law - State & Federal Case Law and more at Loislaw ] ] [ [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-6244055_ITM Judge rules family, others cannot be sued concerning Superior Bank's collapse. | Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News) (September, 2004... ] ] David Mobert, [http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/671/ Breaking the Bank] , "In These Times" November 8, 2002] [http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/485/485.F3d.942.05-3651.05-3642.05-3500.05-1244.html John W. Courtney et al v. Neal T. Halleren et al (485 F.3d 942)]

Consumer advocates as well as government investigators have asserted Superior "engaged in unsound financial activities and predatory lending practices." Responding to questions from the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Pritzker noted she had no ownership in the bank, either direct or indirect, and that the bank's reasons for failure "were complex. They include changes in accounting practices, auditing failures, reversals in regulatory positions and general economic conditions." She said the bank complied with "fair lending laws" and ethical business practices. Writing about the largest thrift failure in almost a decade, the FDIC in 2002 noted that the bank had paid out $200 million in dividends during a time of seemingly rising profits; in reality, these profits were a product of "flawed" accounting and masked operating losses. Pritzker noted in turn that Superior's financial statements were found to be acceptable by regulators for many years before the failure. A 2001 Business Week article described the bank's other half-owner, Alvin Dworman, as the more dominant partner in its operation as a result of agreements Jay Pritzker made early on. Quoted in the New York Times about the failure of the bank, a Pritzker family friend observed Pritzker was trapped in a deal of her uncle's making: "Penny got sucked into this … This was really the legacy of Jay." cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E4D71E3CF934A3575BC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title=A Partnership Frays After An S.& L. Fails; In Laying Blame, Trying to Sort Out One Deal Maker's Complicated Legacy|last=Barboza|first=David|date=2001-08-07|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-07-21]

ee Also

*Office of Thrift Supervision
*Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

References

External links

* [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120554763760338773.html Money Maven]
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/447/000122081/ Penny Pritzker] at NNDB
* [http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/27/01/feature2.shtml 2002 article on Superior Bank failure] , In These Times
* [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/54/richlist07_Penny-Pritzker_CDNP.html The Forbes 400 - #135 Penny Pritzker] 2007 profile
* [http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=513679 The Harvard Crimson - Penny Pritzker] Madeline W. Lissner, June 5, 2006
* [http://www.secinfo.com/$/SEC/Registrant.asp?CIK=1087398 SEC filings]
* [http://www.penny-pritzker.com Personal website]