Robert Pritzker

Robert Alan Pritzker (June 30, 1926 – October 27, 2011) was an American businessman and member of the wealthy Pritzker family.

Biography

Pritzker was born to a Jewish family, the Pritzker family,<ref name=Economist>The Economist: "Jay Pritzker, pioneer of the modern hotel chain, died on January 23rd, aged 76" January 28, 1999</ref> in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Fanny (née Doppelt) and A.N. Pritzker. He has two brothers: Donald Pritzker and Jay Pritzker.<ref>Jay Pritzker, Who Built Chain Of Hyatt Hotels, Is Dead at 76 – New York Times</ref> Robert Pritzker received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1946 and an honorary doctorate in 1984. He taught night courses at IIT and began serving on the board of trustees in 1962, and served as a University Regent until the time of his death. He also taught evening classes at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (now the Booth School of Business) in the late 1970s and through the 1980s. His class consisted of cases developed from actual business take-overs he was involved with, and students had to recommend whether or not to purchase the companies under study. Pritzker started The Marmon Group, an international association of autonomous manufacturing and service companies. Marmon's assets constitute half of the Pritzker family fortune.Template:Citation needed Robert's success can be partially attributed to his unique business structure, in which employees are trusted to make more key decisions, independent of the central office, than in other typical manufacturing settings. This independence allows for more creativity, and increases speed and productivity. Template:Citation needed Concurrently, Pritzker spent a year as Chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers.

In 2002, Bob Pritzker retired from his position of President of The Marmon Group and assumed the role of President of Colson Associates, Inc., a holding company of caster, plastics moldling, hardware and medical companies, including Acumed, OsteoMed, and Precision Edge Surgical Products Company, among others.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

Pritzker was married three times:

• His first wife was Audrey Frances Gilbert,<ref name=Yale>Yale University: "Slow readers, creative thinkers: gift will spur dyslexia studies – New center will explore links between reading problems, creativity" retrieved December 21, 2012</ref><ref name=ClevelandHistory>Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: "Biography of the Ratner Family" retrieved December 21, 2012</ref> whom he married on December 19, 1948 and divorced in 1979.<ref name="CNNunveiling">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1981, she married again to Albert B. Ratner, the co-chairman of Cleveland-based real estate developer Forest City Enterprises.<ref name=Yale /><ref name=ClevelandHistory /> Pritzker and Gilbert had three children:<ref name=WSJCaught>Wall Street Journal: "Caught a Good Break" November 26, 2013</ref>
  • Jennifer N. Pritzker (b. James, 1950)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> – retired Lt Colonel in the U.S. Army and founder of the Pritzker Military Library.<ref name=MilitaryLibrary>Pritzker Military Library website: "Colonel (IL) J. N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired)" retrieved December 21, 2012</ref> Jennifer has three children: daughter Tal Hava Pritzker and sons Andrew and William.<ref name=MilitaryLibrary />
  • Linda Pritzker (b. 1953) – psychotherapist and ordained Tibetan Buddhist lama.<ref>Linda Pritzker official website retrieved March 29, 2016</ref>
  • Karen Pritzker Vlock (b. 1958) – married to investor Michael Vlock.<ref>Berg Properties: "Housing Bulletin — Irene Pritzker Sells Her Kenilworth Mansion" By Dennis Rodkin March 19, 2008</ref>
• In 1980, he married Australian Irene Dryburgh, whom he met while she worked at a Hyatt hotel in Australia. Prior to their divorce in 1989, they had two children:<ref name=CNNunveiling /><ref name=ForbesTrust>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• • Matthew Pritzker (b. 1982) – is a real-estate entrepreneur, the head of the Matthew Pritzker Company, former owner of Chicago-based HomeMade Pizza Company, and State Street Pictures.
  • Liesel Pritzker Simmons (b. 1984) – a child actress who starred in A Little Princess and played the U.S. President's daughter in the film Air Force One. She co-founded with her mother the IDP Foundation,<ref>Opportunity International: "Irene D. Pritzker, and Attendees of World Leadership Forum Dinner, Reflect on her Global Philanthropy Award and the Work of IDP Rising Schools Program" September 28, 2010</ref> dedicated to "developing innovative, scalable and replicable programs through sustainable initiatives that move away from aid based models and lead to greater progress in the achievement of Education for All for the most deprived."<ref>IDP Foundation website retrieved August 27, 2013 Template:Webarchive</ref>
• His third wife, whom he married in 1994, was Sao Mayari Sargent,<ref>Vanity Fair: "A Matter of Trusts: Shattered Dynasty" by Suzanna Andrews May 2003</ref> the daughter of the Austrian author Inge Sargent (née Eberhard), and her first husband Sao Kya Seng, last Saopha of Hsipaw State in Shan State, Burma.<ref>Chicago Tribune: "Out Of Burma" by Rick Kogan March 01, 1998</ref><ref>Freedom Heroes: "FREEDOM HERO: INGE SARGENT" by Jennifer Beck retrieved December 21, 2012</ref>

Robert Pritzker preferred to fly coach despite having access to a family-owned corporate jet: "If I ask my managers to go coach how can I go first class? That's leadership."<ref>New York Times: "HOW THEY DEAL AND MULTIPLY" By Marylin Bender February 26, 1984</ref>

Pritzker received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1983.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Pritzker's nephew and namesake,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> J. B., was elected Governor of Illinois in 2018.

See also

• The World's Billionaires

External links

• Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People – Robert Pritzker
• Colson Associates, Inc.