Sam Zell was an American billionaire investor who changed the way big real estate is bought and sold. The Chicago businessman, known as “the Grave Dancer,” built Equity Group Investments into a giant, sold Equity Office Properties to Blackstone for about $39 billion in 2007, and later took over the Tribune Company. He died on May 18, 2023, at the age of 81. September 28, 2026, would have been his 85th birthday.
| Date of Birth | September 28, 1941 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death | May 18, 2023 |
| Aged | 81 |
| Nationality | American |
| Zodiac Sign | Libra |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Wife | Helen Herzog Fadim Zell |
| Children | 3 |
Janeane GarofaloSam Zell Biography
Sam Zell was born Shmuel Zielonka on September 28, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Berek and Ruchla Zielonka, were Polish Jews who fled Poland in 1939, just before the Nazi invasion. They reached the United States only a few months before he was born.
In America, the family changed its name to Zell, and his parents became Bernard and Rochelle. His father built a living as a jewelry wholesaler in Chicago. Sam grew up in the Chicago area with his older sister, Leah.
He attended Highland Park High School and then went to the University of Michigan. He earned a bachelor’s degree there in 1963 and a law degree from Michigan Law School in 1966.
Sam Zell Career
Zell’s real estate career began while he was still a student. He and his fraternity brother, Robert H. Lurie, agreed to manage an apartment building near campus in exchange for free rent. Other landlords soon hired them, and by 1966 the pair were managing more than 4,000 apartments.
He worked as a lawyer for just four days. In a 2022 interview with David Rubenstein on Bloomberg Wealth, Zell said he went to the senior partner on the fifth morning and told him, “I just don’t think this is a good use of my time.” He moved back to Chicago and, in 1968, started the business that became Equity Group Investments. Lurie joined him as his partner and stayed until his death in 1990.
His famous nickname came from the 1970s. While other investors ran from a falling property market, Zell bought troubled buildings cheaply and waited for prices to recover. He described this approach in a 1976 article titled “Confessions of a Grave Dancer,” and the name stuck with him for life.
Speaking at an NYU Schack Institute real estate event in May 2023, shortly before he died, Zell said he bought three or four billion dollars of property between 1973 and 1978. His best results came from Toledo, Ohio. No insurance company would lend there, so he had almost no competition.
In the 1990s, he took several of his businesses public as real estate investment trusts, or REITs. These included Equity Residential, Equity Office Properties Trust and Equity LifeStyle Properties. Many people in the industry credit him with helping to build the modern REIT market.
His best-known deal came in early 2007. He sold Equity Office, then the biggest office landlord in the United States, to Blackstone for about $39 billion including debt. It was the largest leveraged buyout in history at the time, and it closed just before the 2008 financial crisis hit property prices.
The Tribune Company deal went the other way. In December 2007, Zell took the media group private in an $8.2 billion deal, while putting in only about $315 million of his own money. The company owned the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Cubs, but it carried huge debts and filed for bankruptcy a year later. In 2019, Zell paid $200 million to settle legal claims tied to that deal.
He kept investing well beyond property. In 1999 he started Equity International to back real estate firms in emerging markets, and he chaired Equity Commonwealth, another office REIT. In 2017, he published a memoir, “Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk From a Business Rebel.” He told Bloomberg the title fit his blunt style: “Rarely, I think, does anybody leave a meeting with me and say, what do you think he meant?”
Sam Zell Death
Sam Zell died at his home on May 18, 2023, from complications of a recent illness, according to Equity Group Investments. He was 81 years old. The company did not say what the illness was.
Tributes poured in from the business world, where he was remembered as a self-made risk taker with a blunt, often colorful way of speaking. He had remained chairman of Equity Group Investments and active in its deals until the end.
What Happened to His Companies After His Death
Equity Group Investments still runs today as the family’s private investment office. It is led by president Mark Sotir and invests in areas such as healthcare, logistics, energy, farming and real estate.
Equity Commonwealth, the REIT he chaired, chose to close down. Its shareholders approved a plan to sell its buildings and dissolve in November 2024. The company made its final cash payout in April 2025 and left the New York Stock Exchange.
In June 2026, Equity Group Investments announced it had sold its stake in Cross Border Xpress, the pedestrian bridge linking San Diego to Tijuana International Airport. The buyer was Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, in a deal valued at about $2.2 billion. Equity Residential and Equity LifeStyle Properties, two of the REITs he founded, are still listed companies.
Sam Zell Wife, Kids
Sam Zell was married three times. His first wife was Janet Skolnick, and they had two children, Matthew and JoAnn. During his second marriage, which lasted from 1979 to 1994, he adopted a daughter, Kellie.
His third wife was Helen Zell (née Herzog), and they stayed married until his death. Zell also had nine grandchildren.
Away from work, he loved motorcycles and led a riding group of friends he called “Zell’s Angels.” He also enjoyed skiing and racquetball. He gave generously, too, backing entrepreneurship programs at the University of Michigan, Northwestern and Wharton, and giving millions to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Sam Zell House
Chicago was always Sam Zell’s home base, and his company stayed headquartered there. He also owned homes in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Malibu, California, where he spent time skiing and relaxing with family.
Sam Zell Net Worth
Sam Zell’s net worth was estimated at $5.2 billion at the time of his death in 2023. Most of that fortune came from his stakes in the REITs he built and the private holdings of Equity Group Investments.
The Equity Office sale alone reportedly earned him about $1 billion personally. Decades of buying real estate, shipping, energy and other businesses at low prices added the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Sam Zell die?
He died at home on May 18, 2023, from complications of a recent illness. His company did not name the illness.
How old was Sam Zell when he died?
He was 81. Born on September 28, 1941, he would have turned 85 on September 28, 2026.
Who was Sam Zell’s wife?
His wife at the time of his death was Helen Zell (née Herzog). She was his third wife.
How many children did Sam Zell have?
He had three children: Matthew and JoAnn from his first marriage, and Kellie, whom he adopted during his second marriage.
What was Sam Zell’s net worth when he died?
His net worth was estimated at $5.2 billion when he died in 2023.
What is Equity Group Investments?
It is the Chicago private investment firm Sam Zell started in 1968. It still operates today, led by president Mark Sotir, and invests in real estate and many other industries.
