Sam Zell, a pioneering real estate investor and founder of Equity Residential (EQR), Equity Office and Equity Group Investments, died on Thursday at the age of 81. Zell’s death was announced by EQR, of which Zell served as president. EQR CEO David Neithercut has been appointed chairman of the board, effective immediately.
An active real estate investor since the 1960s, Zell helped revolutionize the industry by popularizing the REIT structure in the 1990s, democratizing ownership of publicly traded real estate companies. He founded EQR’s predecessor company while a student at the University of Michigan and took it public on the New York Stock Exchange in August 1993.
Under Zell’s leadership, EQR became a highly regarded $31 billion owner, developer and operator of apartments and a member of the S&P 500. Over the years, he invested in and grew businesses in a number of industries, including now real estate, manufacturing, retail, travel, healthcare and energy.
Zell was also an active philanthropist focused on entrepreneurship education. He established several leading entrepreneurship programs, including the Zell Lurie Institute at the University of Michigan; the Zell Fellows Program for Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management; the Samuel Zell & Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Zell Entrepreneurship Program at Reichman University (formerly IDC Herzliya), a private institution of higher education in Israel.
“The world has lost one of its great investors and entrepreneurs,” said Mark J. Parrell, president and CEO of EQR. “Sam’s insatiable intellectual curiosity and passion for doing business created some of the most dynamic companies in the public real estate sector. He was a generous philanthropist and an incredible mentor and friend and will be missed by all who were lucky enough to be a part of his extraordinary world. Our deepest condolences go out to Sam’s family and loved ones.”
