Jay Pritzker | |
---|---|
Born |
Jay Arthur Pritzker August 26, 1922 Chicago, Illinois |
Died | January 23, 1999 | (aged 76)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater |
University of Chicago (B.A.) Northwestern University School of Law (J.D.) |
Occupation | Businessman |
Known for | Co-founder of Hyatt Corporation |
Spouse(s) | Marian "Cindy" Friend |
Children | Nancy Pritzker (deceased) Thomas Pritzker John Pritzker Daniel Pritzker Jean "Gigi" Pritzker |
Parent(s) |
Abram Nicholas Pritzker Fanny Doppelt |
Jay Arthur Pritzker (August 26, 1922 – January 23, 1999) was an American entrepreneur, conglomerate organizer, and member of the Pritzker family.
Pritzker was born to a Jewish family that arrived in Chicago from a Jewish shtetl near Kyiv in 1881 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Fanny (née Doppelt) and Abram Nicholas Pritzker. He had two brothers: Donald Pritzker and Robert Pritzker. At the age of 14, Pritzker was admitted to the University of Chicago. He then went on to graduate with a J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law in 1947.
Pritzker diversified the Chicago-based family business—which then consisted of the Prizker & Prizker law firm run by his uncle Harry Nicholas Pritzker and the investments made by his father and his uncle Jack Nicholas Pritzker—into the Marmon Group holding company. With his brother Robert Pritzker, he built a portfolio of 60 diversified industrial corporations. He created the Hyatt Hotel chain in 1957 with his brother Donald Pritzker and owned Braniff Airlines from 1983–1988.
In 1979 he established the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
In 1996, he and his wife Cindy received the National Building Museum's Honor Award.