Who is Sam Zell?
Sam Zell is an American billionaire businessman who is best known for being the founder of Equity International a real estate agency that was established in 1999 and headquartered in Chicago, IL. In 2018, he was ranked as the 397th richest person in the world which means that he has gathered a lot of fortune via his real estate company.
In this article, I would be writing about Sam Zell biography, age height, family, wife, house, kids, net worth, and other facts about him. First, let’s take a look at his profile below.
Profile summary
Sam Zell Biography
Sam Zell was born on September 28, 1941, in Shmuel Zielonka, Chicago, USA. His parents Ruchla and Berek Zielonka were immigrants from Poland of Jewish descent. His parents changed their name when they arrived in the United States to Rochelle and Bernard Zell before they relocated to Chicago where his dad became a jewelry wholesaler.
Sam attended Highland Park High school and in 1963, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan. He has a sister Leah, and he stands at 5 feet 5inches.
Sam Zell Career
Sam started his career in real estate by managing a 15-unit apartment building and in return, he would get free room and board. By the time he graduated, the venture was getting $150,000 and he was joined by Robert H Lurie, his fraternity member during his University days. He won a contract in Ann Arbor with a large apartment development owner and by the time he graduated with his J.D, he was managing around 4,000 properties.
He was a lawyer for a period of one week before deciding that the profession was not for him. Due to his drive for business, his senior partner decided to invest in him and this helped him to purchase properties in cities like Nevada and Reno. Robert H Lurie joined him when he opened Equity Group Investments and the company is formed from three companies Equity Residential, Equity Office Properties Trust, and Equity Lifestyle Properties.
Sam Zell Wife, Kids
Sam Zell is married to Helen Herzog Fadim Zell, though he was previously married twice. He has three children two of them Matthew and JoAnn coming from his first marriage and Kellie whom he adopted in his second marriage.
Sam Zell House
Sam Zell’s house is located in Chicago and it is worth around $10.5million.
Sam Zell Net worth
Sam owns one of the biggest real estate companies in the United States of America. He has an estimated net worth of $6billion with most of his earnings coming from his real estate company.