{{Short description|American billionaire and businessman}}{{Improve images|date=May 2025|type=biographical}}{{Infobox person | name = Thomas Pritzker | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|06|06}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | alma_mater = Claremont McKenna College (BA)<br> University of Chicago (JD, MBA) | employer = | occupation = Hotelier | title = | spouse = Margot Marshall | children = 3 | parents = Jay Pritzker (father) | family = Pritzker }}
'''Thomas Pritzker''' (born June 6, 1950) is an American billionaire heir and businessman. A member of the Pritzker family, he is the executive chairman and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pritzker Organization (TPO), which manages the various Pritzker family business assets. Pritzker is also the former executive chairman of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation.<ref name="Forbes profile">{{cite web|title=Forbes profile: Thomas Pritzker|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-pritzker/|website=Forbes|accessdate=25 February 2018}}</ref>
==Early life== Thomas Pritzker was born on June 6, 1950 to the Pritzker family, son of Jay Pritzker (1922–99) and his wife, Marian Friend. Thomas' great grandparents in the male line were Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, Annie P. (née Cohn) and Nicholas J. Pritzker.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ramirez |first=Anthony |date=January 25, 1999 |title=Jay Pritzker, Who Built Chain Of Hyatt Hotels, Is Dead at 76 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/25/business/jay-pritzker-who-built-chain-of-hyatt-hotels-is-dead-at-76.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=April 23, 2010 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RowMAQAAMAAJ&q=Annie+Cohn+Pritzker |title=The Monthly Supplement |date=1951-01-01 |publisher=International Who's Who, Inc. |language=en}}</ref> His maternal grandfather was the Czech Jewish immigrant, athlete and judge Hugo Friend.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |title= 2019-254 Cindy Pritzker Day|url= https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/index/register/volume44/register_volume44_issue_5.pdf|journal=2020 Illinois Register |volume=44 |issue=5 |pages=2442–2443 |doi= |date=January 31, 2020|access-date= }}</ref>
He received a J.D. and a M.B.A. in 1976 from the University of Chicago,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://trustees.uchicago.edu/page/thomas-pritzker|title=Thomas Pritzker - Board of Trustees - The University of Chicago|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225210417/https://trustees.uchicago.edu/page/thomas-pritzker|archive-date=2018-02-25|author=|date=|website=trustees.uchicago.edu|accessdate=25 February 2018}}</ref> and a B.A. in 1971 from Claremont Men's College.<ref>{{cite news |title=Three new Trustees join University board |url=https://chronicle.uchicago.edu/950817/trustees.shtml |access-date=17 February 2026 |work=University of Chicago Chronicle |date=August 17, 1995}}</ref>
==Career== Pritzker's father built the chain of Hyatt Hotels. Over the years, Thomas Pritzker held several positions with Hyatt Corporation (the private operating company) and Hyatt Hotels Corporation (the publicly traded holding company that was created when Hyatt Corporation and Hyatt International merged):<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Hyatt Hotels Corporation - Governance - Board of Directors - Person Details |url=https://investors.hyatt.com/governance/board-of-directors/person-details/default.aspx?ItemId=ebbc948f-8aa5-4994-bff5-9c004aaab4d0 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=investors.hyatt.com}}</ref>
* 1977–1980: Joined Hyatt Corporation and also worked at the Pritzker & Pritzker law firm<ref>{{cite news |last1=Worthy |first1=Ford S. |title=The Pritzkers: Unveiling a Private Family |url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1988/04/25/70462/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018225114/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1988/04/25/70462/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-10-18 |access-date=17 February 2026 |work=Fortune |date=April 23, 1988}}</ref> * 1980–1999: Hyatt Corporation President * 1999–Dec. 2006: Hyatt Corporation Chair and CEO * August 2004–December 2006: Hyatt Hotels Corporation CEO * August 2004–February 2026: Hyatt Hotels Corporation board member and Executive Chair
Pritzker resigned from his position as Executive Chairman on February 16, 2026, the result of his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.<ref name="O'Brien">{{cite news |last1=O'Brien |first1=Rebecca Davis |title=Tom Pritzker, Citing Epstein Connection, Steps Down as Hyatt’s Executive Chairman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/us/politics/tom-pritzker-hyatt-epstein.html |access-date=17 February 2026 |work=The New York Times |date=February 16, 2026}}</ref>
He also served as a director of Royal Caribbean Cruises until 2020 and of TransUnion until 2010.<ref name=":0" /> He is the founder and chairman of North America Western Asia Holdings LLC (NAWAH), an investment and advisory firm seeking to invest in Iraqi companies while advising clients looking to do business in the region.<ref name="businessweek">{{cite magazine|last=Kelly|first=Jason|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-28/ex-pentagon-matchmaker-pritzker-open-firm-for-deals-in-iraq.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103212002/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-28/ex-pentagon-matchmaker-pritzker-open-firm-for-deals-in-iraq.html|archive-date=2012-01-03|title=Ex-Pentagon Matchmaker, Pritzker Open Firm for Deals in Iraq|magazine=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=October 28, 2011|accessdate=28 July 2012}}</ref>
He is the past chair of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Strategy Group. He organized the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium.<ref>{{cite web |title=Corporate Officer: Thomas J. Pritzker |url=https://www.csis.org/people/thomas-j-pritzker |website=Center for Strategic and International Studies |publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>
==Involvement with Jeffrey Epstein==
Pritzker was in regular contact with Jeffrey Epstein in the years following Mr. Epstein’s 2008 plea deal on sex crimes charges.<ref name="O'Brien" />
He was named in a deposition filed under oath by Virginia Giuffre related to her being sexually trafficked through the Epstein network. She testified in the deposition that she once was sexually abused by Pritzker. A spokesperson for Pritzker told Reuters that Pritzker "continues to vehemently deny" the allegation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/thomas-pritzker-hyatt-billionaire-jeffrey-epstein-documents/|title=Thomas Pritzker, Hyatt billionaire and governor's cousin, named in Jeffrey Epstein documents|first=Marissa|last=Perlman|website=CBS News|date=January 4, 2024|access-date=2024-03-14}}</ref>
Later, the released Epstein files showed frequent email exchanges, including one from 2018 in which he helped Epstein's partner Karyna Shuliak plan a trip to Southeast Asia, with the expressed goal of finding females for Epstein.<ref name="O'Brien" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Hyatt Hotels chairman steps down over Jeffrey Epstein ties |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93wk4d7x19o |website=www.bbc.com |access-date=17 February 2026 |date=17 February 2026}}</ref>
==Personal life== He is married to Margot Marshall.<ref>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/06/12/inside-the-pritzker-family-feud/ Chicago Tribune: "Inside the Pritzker family feud Since the 1999 death of the revered Jay Pritzker, tensions have quietly roiled Chicago's wealthiest family. Here is a look behind the scenes" By Susan Chandler and Kathy Bergen] June 12, 2005</ref> They have three sons.<ref>[https://www.ft.com/content/35cece52-3e8e-11e4-adef-00144feabdc0 Financial Times: "Thomas Pritzker, Hyatt chairman: a billionaire with many faces" by Henny Sender] September 21, 2014</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Melissa |last2=Wernau |first2=Julie |title=Fortune's Fate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117916886/chicago-tribune/ |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=December 18, 2011 |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117916886/chicago-tribune/ 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117917063/chicago-tribune/ 2] |accessdate= |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
He holds an honorary doctorate from Tsinghua University in Haidian, Beijing, China.<ref>{{cite web |title=Corporate Officer: Thomas J. Pritzker |url=https://www.csis.org/people/thomas-j-pritzker |website=csis.org |publisher=Center for Strategic & International Studies |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{C-SPAN|137326}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritzker, Thomas}} Category:1950 births Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American Jews Category:20th-century American philanthropists Category:21st-century American businesspeople Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American philanthropists Category:20th-century people from Illinois Category:21st-century people from Illinois Category:American art collectors Category:American billionaires Category:American chairpersons of corporations Category:American chief executives of financial services companies Category:American chief executives of travel and tourism industry companies Category:American company founders Category:American investors Category:American people of Czech-Jewish descent Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Category:Art Institute of Chicago Category:Businesspeople from Chicago Category:Claremont McKenna College alumni Category:CSIS people Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:Hyatt people Category:Living people Category:Jewish art collectors Category:Jews from Illinois Category:Philanthropists from Chicago Thomas Pritzker Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Private equity and venture capital investors Category:University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni Category:University of Chicago Law School alumni Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:University of Chicago trustees