Pritzker Billionaire Brothers Turn From Family Feuding to Deals
Anthony and Jay Robert Pritzker, brothers and heirs to the Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Marmon Holdings Inc. manufacturing fortune, settle in for salads and sandwiches at their 40th-floor office in Chicago’s West Loop. A decade ago, the duo joined family members who allied against their sister, Penny, who’s U.S. President Barack Obama’s commerce secretary, and two cousins.
The legal battle broke up the family empire and distributed at least $1.35 billion to each of 11 cousins. Now, the brothers say they are putting the discord behind them, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its December Billionaires Issue. They are primed to talk about investing their inheritance in companies that include a distributor of janitorial products and a maker of circumcision devices -- much like the grab bag their father and uncles assembled.
“Our family divested a bunch of assets over the 10 years leading up to 2011,” recalls Jay Robert, 48, who goes by J.B. and has been investing since 1996. “We have taken the cash and essentially have been in a process of investing that cash.”
Big brother Tony joined him in 2002, after the family’s infighting set in motion a decade-long sell-off of holdings.
“We could spend the next 10 years working with family to break up the business,” Tony, 52, recalls thinking. “Or we could spend the next 10 years building our own business.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-05/pritzker-billionaire-brothers-turn-from-family-feuding-to-deals.html
Cousins of Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce and major backer of Obama in Chicago.