She is the second richest woman in Chicago, one of 11 billionaire heirs to the Pritzker fortune that stems from Hyatt hotels, the former U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 2013 to 2017, sits on the boards of Microsoft and is a Stanford Graduate. The entrepreneur worth $3.6 billion dabbled in the wonderful world of business and hospitality before taking a detour to President Barack Obama’s cabinet. The go-getter once shared, “There is this voice and internal need to live up to the [family] expectations. And there are very big shoes involved.” It looks like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree-
Early life and education-
64-year-old Penny Pritzker boasts a regal pedigree as she was born with a silver spoon to Sue and Donald Pritzker, the most influential Jewish business family in Chicago. They were the co-founders of the Hyatt Hotels. Penny’s business acumen was first noticed by her grandfather, the head of the family business empire, A.N. Pritzker, who enrolled her in a summer course in accounting. The ambitious go-getter valued a good education and undoubtedly got the very best.
Penny excelled academically at Castilleja School, an independent all-girls middle and high school located in Palo Alto, until 1977. She traveled throughout the West as a competitive horsewoman, winning the state championship six times, per Fortune. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Harvard College, and a Juris Doctor and an MBA from Stanford University.
She put her top-notch education and natural talent for business to use first in 1987 when she founded Classic Residence by Hyatt, later renamed Vi. It was basically a Hyatt-level hospitable version of housing for seniors. Four years later, Penny was the director of the Pritzkers’ non-hotel landholdings which led to the formation of the Pritzker Realty Group. She became the chairperson of the Superior Bank of Chicago, founded PSP Partners, a private investment firm.
A friend of the Obamas, Pritzker served as the national finance chair of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. She was chosen as the United States Secretary of Commerce by President Barack Obama in May 2013, an honor that had the businesswoman par-excellence bid adieu to sell her interest in at least 221 companies and resign from 158 entities, including the Hyatt board of directors and the Chicago Board of Education.
Net worth of the ace businesswoman-
The massive Hyatt Hotel fortune was a cool $15.45 billion as of April 2024, and Penny, the marathon-running heir with over 30 years of experience certainly had an important role to play in it. The business builder is the founder and chairman of PSP Partners and its affiliates Pritzker Realty Group, PSP Capital and PSP Growth and boasts a personal net worth of $3.6 billion per Forbes. She has business in her genes and made politics her passion with an applaud-worthy tenure from 2013-2017 as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. As her best friend from Harvard, Liz Sherwood-Randall shared, “She wanted to prove herself and earn her place in this all-male clan. She wanted to carry on her father’s legacy.” Pritzker certainly managed that feat and well!
She served as chair of credit-reporting firm TransUnion, and her husband, Dr. Bryan Traubert, co-founded the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation that works to foster increased economic opportunity for Chicago’s families. Penny Pritzker, born and bred in Chicago is known to be the second richest woman in the windy city. Penny Pritzker along with her siblings, Tony, and J.B. Pritzker, the Democrat governor of Illinois, has an estimated combined net worth of $10 billion as heirs of the global Hyatt hotel chain. The entire extended Pritzker family is one of the wealthiest in the United States, with a combined net worth of $36.9 billion, per Daily Mail.
Lavish homes of the Hyatt Hotel heiress-
Being the second richest woman in Chicago means owning a home in the small yet pricey patch of Lincoln Park that’s home to the ritziest properties in the windy city. Penny Pritzker, mother of two, called 1875 North Orchard Street her home. The modern mansion that resembles a Hyatt hotel or a museum was built in 2002 for an estimated $3.4 million, per Chicago Mag.
It is one of the select few homes in Lincoln Park that boast a height of 47 feet high. The incredible homes are located near historic districts in the Gold Coast and Old Town Triangle and flaunt massive yards. It is in this home that she hosted the Obamas over dinner.
The Chicago hotel heiress also bought a $7.95 million home in Massachusetts Avenue Heights. It was described as a perfect example of true Georgian architecture spanning 12,865 square feet. It features intricately detailed crown molding, magnificent millwork, ten-foot ceilings, and seven bedrooms. What good is a billionairess with no vacation home? Penny enjoys her time off at her Lake Michigan vacation house. The Pritzkers enjoyed a magnificent home in Covert, Michigan. Obama and his family were frequent guests there.
