J.B. Pritzker Biography

Jay Robert (J.B.) Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, philanthropist and private business investor in the United States. He is managing partner and co-founder of The Pritzker Group, a private investment firm; founder of New World Ventures, an early-stage information technology investor; and principal owner of Hyatt Hotels Corporation and TransUnion Corporation. He is a member of the wealthy Pritzker family.

In 2011, the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list ranked him as the 159th richest person in the U.S. with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion and the 692nd richest person in the world.

Early life and education

Pritzker is a member of one of America's wealthiest business families. He attended Massachusetts boarding school Milton Academy and then graduated from Duke University with an A.B. in political science. Pritzker went on to earn his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. Pritzker is an attorney and a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and Chicago Bar Association.

Career

Founded in 1996 and now among the Midwest's leading venture capital firms, New World invests in early stage information technology companies, principally focused on enterprise software, IT infrastructure and IT managed services. New World Ventures has invested in more than 50 companies, including data storage innovator Lefthand Networks, managed desktop software maker Everdream, online ticket seller TicketsNow, sports and entertainment technology leader Sportvision and eLearning platform provider eCollege.

Pritzker played an important role in the creation of the Illinois Venture Capital Association, the nation's top regional private equity association and in the creation of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. He also co-founded the public/private Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund. Pritzker has received awards and community recognition for his efforts to build a stronger technology sector in the Midwest.

He is also co-founder and managing partner of the Pritzker Group, a private investment firm acquiring late stage companies in a wide range of business sectors, including industrial manufacturing and distribution, business services, media and technology. Acquisitions have included aircraft safety products manufacturer Amsafe, investment casting manufacturer Signicast and construction materials distributor Carter-Waters.

Philanthropy

Pritzker is one of the nation's chief philanthropists in early childhood development. As the Pritzker Family Foundation's president, he created the Children's Initiative, which funds innovative research and programs serving children in poverty. Under the leadership of Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman, he supported the creation of the Pritzker Consortium on Early Childhood Development at the University of Chicago. Along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, the Irving Harris Foundation and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, the Pritzker Family Foundation is a founding supporter of the First Five Years Fund, an organization focusing nationwide attention and resources on comprehensive, quality early care and learning programs for children from birth to age five.

As chairman of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, which opened in 2009, Pritzker successfully led the effort to build an international institution in the Midwest dedicated to teaching the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides. Pritzker is the principal funder of Cambodia Tribunal Monitor, the most significant online source for news and commentaries regarding the international criminal tribunal created to bring to justice the perpetrators of Pol Pot era acts of genocide. He served as chairman of the Illinois Human Rights Commission, and was succeeded by former White House counsel and Federal Judge Abner J. Mikva.

In 2007, Pritzker and his wife donated $5 million to the University of South Dakota to build the Theodore R. and Karen K. Muenster University Center in honor of his wife's parents. In 2011, Milton Academy dedicated the Pritzker Science Center for which Pritzker provided the lead gift. Pritzker is a trustee and serves on the investment committee of Northwestern University and is a member of the Board of Governors of Northwestern University School of Law. He is a trustee of the Field Museum of Natural History and a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Political activities

In the 2008 Presidential election, Pritzker served as national co-chairman of the Hillary Clinton for President campaign and as a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He supported President Barack Obama in the 2008 general election and helped bring the Clinton and Obama campaigns in Illinois together.

Pritzker founded Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century, a national organization dedicated to attracting voters under the age of 40 to the Democratic Party. He also served on the legislative staff of U.S. Senator Terry Sanford (D-NC), U.S. Senator Alan J. Dixon (D-IL) and U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA), for whom he handled issues such as international trade, election reform and handgun control.

In 1998, he ran for U.S. Congress, principally focusing on the issues of education and gun control, and lost in a heavily contested five-way primary in Illinois's 9th US Congressional district.

Awards and recognition

• In 2008, Pritzker received the Entrepreneurial Champion Award from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce for his efforts to promote economic development and job creation.
• The Chicago Sun-Times named Pritzker to its "Hot 100" most prominent members of Chicago's technology economy.
• He received the Spirit of Erikson Institute Award for his creation of the Children's Initiative.
• As chairman of the Illinois Human Rights Commission, he was recognized for his outstanding achievement in reforming the state's chief civil rights adjudicatory agency for housing and employment discrimination.
• Pritzker was named "Business Executive of the Year" by the Illinois State Crime Commission for his activities on behalf of crime victims and police officers.
• In 1994, Campaigns and Elections' Politics magazine named Pritzker one of the "Rising Stars" of the Democratic Party.

Personal life

In 1993, he married Mary Kathryn "M.K." Muenster of South Dakota whom he had met in Washington, D.C when she worked as an aide to Senator Thomas Daschle of South Dakota. She is one of three children of Theodore and Karen Muenster. Her father unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1990. They live in Chicago with their two children. His family is Jewish.