How a Chicago Entrepreneur Became a Billionaire Investor

Sam Zell, Chairman of Equity Group Investments, is one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, and recently released a memoir, Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk from a Business Rebel. The book not only details five decades of deal making but also the compelling story of how his childhood and his Holocaust-surviving parents shaped his approach toward business and life.

Zell was instrumental in growing the industry of Real Estate Investment Trusts from about $7 billion to $1 trillion over the course of 25 years. The $39 billion sale of his Equity Office Properties to Blackstone Group was the second largest leveraged buyout ever, just before the nation’s real estate market collapsed. With success has also come failure, such as his 2007 investment in Tribune Company, which filed for bankruptcy a year later.

Sam Zell will talk about what he’s done right, where he has gone wrong, and what lessons he has learned in the process. Our conversation with him promises to be as candid as his book.

Tickets
Member: $89
Nonmember: $149

Tables
Member: $1,000
Nonmember: $1,600