Samuel Zell, an iconic figure in the world of real estate who started his business empire while a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, died Thursday of complications from a recent illness. He was 81.
Zell, chairman of Chicago-based Equity Group Investments, Equity LifeStyle Properties, Equity Residential, and Equity Commonwealth, founded the predecessor company to Equity Residential while a student at U-M and took it public on the NYSE in August 1993.
Under his leadership, Equity Residential grew into a highly regarded $31 billion apartment owner, developer, operator, and S&P 500 member. Over the years, he invested in and grew businesses in multiple industries, including real estate, manufacturing, retail, travel, health care, and energy.
Zell graduated with a bachelor’s degree from U-M in 1963, and later earned his JD from the University of Michigan Law School.
Zell was an active philanthropist with a focus on entrepreneurial education. In 1999, he established the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at his alma mater.
Throughout his life, he served on the U-M President’s Advisory Board and the Visitor’s Committee at the University of Michigan Law School. Zell also enhanced the Business School’s Polish Studies Program and was appointed a DeRoy Visiting Professor in Honors at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at Michigan.
In addition, he started the Zell Fellows Program for Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management; the Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School; and the Zell Entrepreneurship Program at Reichman University (formerly IDC Herzliya), a private higher education institution in Israel.
The Wall Street Journal called Zell “A corporate raider who invested across industries — a disastrous buyout of newspaper company Tribune Co., a gourmet ice-cream sandwich maker, industrial manufacturers, and a barge company — he was known for his bluntness and a contrarian tack.”
Because of his interest in troubled companies, WSJ reports Zell called himself the “Grave Dancer.”
He became a major real estate player in the U.S. during the early 1990s recession, when savings-and-loan institutions and other lenders were crushed with mountains of bad commercial real estate debt, The Wall Street Journal reports. He was one of the leading investors who purchased assets at super-discounted prices and made a fortune when values recovered.
“The world has lost one of its greatest investors and entrepreneurs,” says Mark J. Parrell, president and CEO of Equity Residential. “Sam’s insatiable intellectual curiosity and passion for deal making created some of the most dynamic companies in the public real estate industry. He was a generous philanthropist and an incredible mentor and friend and will be missed by all who were lucky enough to be part of his extraordinary world. We extend our deepest condolences to Sam’s family and loved ones.”
Zell was recognized by Forbes in 2017 as one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds. Also that year, he chronicled his fundamental principles for life and business in a book whose title — “Am I Being Too Subtle?” — captured his humor and his penchant for conveying messages through storytelling.
In 2021, DBusiness included Zell in its “Billionaires Club” feature, which can be found here.
