Sam Zell Dies, Age 81

Sam Zell, a pioneering real estate investor and founder of Equity Residential (EQR), Equity Office and Equity Group Investments, died Thursday at age 81. Zell’s passing was announced by EQR, for which Zell served as chairman. Longtime EQR CEO David Neithercut has been appointed board chairman, effective immediately. 

An active investor in real estate since the 1960s, Zell helped revolutionize the industry through the popularization of the REIT structure in the 1990s, democratizing the ownership of publicly traded real estate companies. He founded the predecessor company to EQR 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 grew into a highly regarded $31-billion apartment owner, developer and operator and S&P 500 member. Over the years, he invested in and grew businesses in multiple industries including real estate, manufacturing, retail, travel, healthcare and energy. 

Zell was also an active philanthropist with a focus on entrepreneurial 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 University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the Zell Entrepreneurship Program at Reichman University (formerly IDC Herzliya), a private higher education institution in Israel. 

“The world has lost one of its greatest investors and entrepreneurs,” said Mark J. Parrell, EQR’s president and CEO. “Sam’s insatiable intellectual curiosity and passion for deal making created some of the most dynamic companies in the public real estate industry. He was a generous philanthropist and an incredible mentor and friend and will be missed by all who were lucky enough to be part of his extraordinary world. We extend our deepest condolences to Sam’s family and loved ones.”