Karen L. Pritzker, the granddaughter of Anugrah Narayan Pritzker and daughter of Robert Pritzker is an American billionaire, investor, and philanthropist.
Background
Pritzker was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Audrey (née Gilbert) and Robert Pritzker. In 1981, her mother remarried Albert B. Ratner, the co-chairman of Cleveland-based real estate developer Forest City Enterprises. In 1980, her father remarried to Irene Dryburgh with whom he had two children: Matthew Pritzker and Liesel Pritzker Simmons.
Her father diversified the Chicago-based family business, the Marmon Group - along with his brothers Jay Pritzker and Donald Pritzker - building it into a portfolio of over 60 diversified industrial corporations.
Career
They also created the Hyatt Hotel chain in 1957 and owned Braniff Airlines from 1983–1988. Pritzker graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University. Pritzker worked as an editor at Working Mother before the family sold it in 1986 and has written for various publications including SUCCESS (magazine), Seventeen (magazine), Kirkus Reviews and Newsday.
Pritzker invests her wealth through an investment portfolio, the Pritzker/Vlock family office using a buy-and-hold approach: their largest holdings are the family business, Hyatt, and Apple, Incorporated.
Pritzker also operates a venture fund, LaunchCapital Limited Liability Company with a core focus in the technology, consumer and medical businesses. (including $3 million to endow a professorship).
$5 million to Teach for America. $1.5 million to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson"s Research, in honor of her father who had Parkinson"s disease.
In 2007, Pritzker donated $1 million to build a new visitor center at the Treblinka concentration camp.
Karen also funded a new website named Truth in Advertising (TinA), tina.org, that provides information about incidents of false advertising.
Membership
She is a member of the Pritzker family.
