Entrepreneur Award

A native Chicagoan, Samuel Zell began his career in real estate by managing apartment buildings throughout Southeast Michigan while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. He continued his real estate interests with the founding of Equity Group Investments, LLC (formerly known as Equity Financial and Management Company), an entrepreneurial real estate investment firm based in Chicago, which he currently serves as Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Zell maintains substantial interests in and serves as Chairman of the Board of various corporations which include Anixter International (AXE), a value-added provider of integrated networking and cabling solutions that support business information and network infrastructure requirements; Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (ELS), a self-administered and self-managed equity real estate investment trust which owns and operates manufactured home communities in 26 states; Equity Residential (EQR), the largest apartment real estate investment trust in the United States; Equity Office Properties Trust (EOP) the largest office portfolio of any publicly traded, full-service office company in the United States; Capital Trust (CT), a specialized real estate finance company; and Rewards Network Inc. (IRN), a leading provider of dining rewards programs. All of these are publicly traded companies.

Mr. Zell recently completed a two-year term as Chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT). He serves on the JPMorgan National Advisory Board, the EuroHYPO International Advisory Board, the President’s Advisory Board at the University of Michigan, the Visitor’s Committee at the University of Michigan Law School, and with the combined efforts of the University of Michigan Business School, established the Zell/Lurie Entrepreneurial Center. Mr. Zell’s continual assistance to Michigan’s MBA program has also enhanced the Business School’s Polish Studies Program. He was appointed a DeRoy Visiting Professor in Honors at the College of Literature, Science and the Arts at the University of Michigan. He is a long standing supporter of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Real Estate Center and has endowed the Samuel Zell/Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at Wharton. Mr. Zell has also endowed the Northwestern University Center for Risk Management.