[30] Under her direction, the campaign reached out to small donors. Pritzker spent her early career in business. [1] At age 16, Penny wrote a letter to her grandfather, and head of the family business empire, A. N. Pritzker, in which she asked why he talked business with the men in the family and not with her. The president of Unite Here cited her connection to Obama as a reason why the group expected her to use better labor practices as the group staged demonstrations against Pritzker.[29]. From June 2013 through January 2017, she served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the Obama Administration. The siblings announced the creation of the fund with $23 million in start up money on March 24, 2020, six days after Governor Pritzker's request. [b][47] Pritzker was sworn in as Secretary on June 26, 2013. [1], After she earned her degrees, Pritzker joined the Pritzker organization encouraged by her cousin Nick Pritzker. ", "A Partnership Frays After An S.& L. Fails; In Laying Blame, Trying to Sort Out One Deal Maker's Complicated Legacy", "Judge rules family, others cannot be sued concerning Superior Bank's collapse", John W. Courtney et al. Penny returned to school, earning both a Juris Doctor and a Masters of Business Administration from Stanford University in 1985. Its fortune arose in the 20th century—particularly through the founding and expansion of the Hyatt hotel corporation. [6], Pritzker's friendship with Barack Obama and his family dates back to the 1990s when he was a professor at the University of Chicago. [4] Donald Pritzker was one of the co-founders of Hyatt Hotels. Donald Pritzker was one of the co-founders of Hyatt Hotels. Before entering government service, Pritzker had been involved in many Chicago organizations, including the Chicago Board of Education, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and her own foundation, the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation. (485 F.3d 942), "Pritzker Realty sells parking lot chain to private equity firm", The Economist: "Jay Pritzker, pioneer of the modern hotel chain, died on January 23rd, aged 76", "Penny Pritzker's Artemis raises $736 million for real estate investments", "Obama's New Commerce Secretary: A Billionaire Chicago Hotel Magnate", "Penny Pritzker Had Big Role in Obama '08 but Is Backstage in '12", "Obama's Campaign Takes In $25 Million,He Nearly Matches Clinton, With Twice as Many Donors", "Sources: Pritzker, Napolitano being vetted for Cabinet", "Pritzker not a candidate for commerce secretary", "Pritzker Withdraws From Cabinet Consideration", "Nomination of Penny Pritzker To Be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce", "Obama nominates Chicago exec Penny Pritzker as commerce secretary", "Obama Picks Nominees for Commerce Dept. [9] The following year, Penny's mother died after falling out of the passenger side of a tow truck. She also serves on the board of Microsoft and is chair of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This page was last edited on 23 November 2020, at 22:31. Learn about Penny Pritzker: her birthday, what she did before fame, her family life, fun trivia facts, popularity rankings, and more. [46] Pritzker was confirmed by the full Senate on June 25, by a vote of 97 to 1. [13][17][18][19], According to the FDIC, by 2011 the uninsured depositors of Superior had each received 81% of their uninsured monies, in addition to the $100,000 each previously received of their insured amount. The Pritzker family is of Jewish descent,[2] and based in Chicago, Illinois. Pritzker is married to ophthalmologist Bryan Traubert, with whom she has two children. Pritzker was nominated as United States Secretary of Commerce by President Barack Obama on May 2, 2013. B. Pritzker, is the Governor of Illinois. Robert Pritzker, who married three times, also created a family of five children–the oldest of whom is Jennifer. [3] When the former died in 1999, the family split the business into 11 pieces worth $1.4 billion each[3] (and chose to settle a lawsuit from two family members, who apparently received $500 million each, in 2005). Early in the Democratic presidential primary, Pritzker's financing helped Obama's candidacy survive when Obama was trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls. Penny Pritzker is a well known Entrepreneur. B. running for office in 2017. [1] Pritzker met Obama at a Chicago YMCA where her son participated in a basketball program coached by Obama's brother-in-law Craig Robinson. She was a member of the Chicago Board of Education and is past chair of the Chicago Public Education Fund. In 1993 the bank "embarked on a business strategy of significant growth into subprime home mortgages", according to a report by the United States Treasury Department. The Pritzker family is an American family engaged in entrepreneurship and philanthropy, and one of the wealthiest families in the United States of America (staying in the top 10 of Forbes magazine's "America's Richest Families" list, since the magazine began such listings in 1982). She is a member of the Pritzker family of Chicago, a wealthy and influential business family. and Trade Representative", "Explore The Politicians in the Paradise Papers - ICIJ", "Former Secretary of Commerce And Hyatt Hotels Heir Penny Pritzker Identified In Paradise Papers", "The Trump Administration's Conflicts of Interest: A Crib Sheet", "Penny Pritzker to be nominated for Commerce secretary", "Pritzker Yields Party Role Reversal on Offshore Trusts", Penny Pritzker confirmed as Commerce secretary – Dan Berman, "Pritzker Takes Oath as Commerce Secretary", "Obama administration officials ramp up push for Pacific pact", "Penny Pritzker talks post-government life, AI and Airbnb", "Tech Frets About Trump Commerce Department's Digital Stance", "Talking innovation in a data-enabled economy with Secretary Penny Pritzker | TechCrunch", "Penny Pritzker on the Privacy Shield Pact With Europe", "Penny Pritzker, secretary of commerce, wraps Cuba trip", "US Commerce Secretary Pritzker in Cuba for embargo talks", "The Chicago Public Education Fund Announces new Chairman, transition plan - Chicago Public Education Fund", "U.S. Commerce Secretary Pritzker's Passion For Triathlon", "Kapos: Tennis courts get $1M in Pritzker love", "Gucci and Elle Honor Women in Washington Power List", "Penny Pritzker Elected Chairman of the Board for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace", "How Gov. [39][40] To avoid conflicts of interest, Pritzker agreed 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. [11][22] Jay intended to keep the family business together, devising a system of trusts that would allow individual family members to receive money from the trusts to meet their needs; however, the family's wealth was to be primarily maintained in the trusts to grow the businesses and fund philanthropic endeavors. She also served on the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. [33][34][35] According to the Chicago Tribune, she withdrew her name from consideration "due to obligations to her family, for whom she was still overseeing billions in assets, and the financial crisis, which was putting some of those assets at risk". [55][56], Following her tenure as Secretary, Pritzker returned to PSP and the private sector. After being confirmed by a Senate vote of 97–1, she became the 38th person to hold that position. [14][15][16] Subsequently, the Pritzker family reached an agreement with regulators to pay $460 million. [29] Pritzker remained a major fundraiser for Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary and raised millions overall for his White House bid. Although Pritzker's family business dealings had been a target of Republican criticism when Obama announced her nomination, only three questions at the hearing related to her family.