Samuel Zell (born Shmuel Zielonka, September 28, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. A former lawyer, Zell is the founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments, a private investment firm, founded in 1968. He has interests in and is the chairman of several public companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange: Equity Residential (EQR), Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS), Equity Commonwealth (EQC), and Covanta Holding Corp. (CVA), and Anixter. In October 2021, Zell had an estimated net worth of US $6.0 billion, according to Forbes. Biography Early life and education Zell was born on September 28, 1941, in Chicago. His parents, Ruchla and Berek Zielonka, were Jewish immigrants from Poland, where his father had been a successful grain trader. They emigrated to the United States with their young daughter, Leah, via Tokyo. Soon after arriving, his parents changed their first and last names, becoming Rochelle and Bernard Zell. They then moved from Seattle to the Albany Park neighborhood in Chicago, where his father became a jewelry wholesaler. When he was twelve, the family moved to Highland Park, Illinois, where he graduated from Highland Park High School. In 1963, Zell graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, where he was also a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Career While in school, Zell entered the real estate business. He managed a 15-unit apartment building in return for free room-and-board. Soon, he was managing the owner's other properties. By his graduation, that venture was netting $150,000. Joined by his fraternity brother Robert H. Lurie, he won a contract with a large apartment development owner in Ann Arbor. By the time he graduated with a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1966, he and Lurie were managing over 4,000 apartments and owned 100–200 units outright. After school, he sold his interest in the management company to Lurie and moved to Chicago. After graduation, Zell worked as a lawyer for one week before deciding that the legal profession was not for him. One of the senior partners decided to invest with him, enabling Zell to purchase an apartment building in Toledo. Zell also purchased several apartment buildings in Reno, Nevada, including Arlington Towers. In 1968, Zell founded the predecessor of Equity Group Investments and was joined a year later by his former partner, Robert H. Lurie. Together, they went on to grow the small firm into a