Donald Nicholas Pritzker (October 31, 1932 – May 6, 1972) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
, businessman. He is a member of the
Pritzker family
The Pritzker family is an American family engaged in entrepreneurship and philanthropy, and List of wealthiest families, one of the wealthiest families in the United States of America (staying in the top 10 of ''Forbes'' magazine's "America's Riche ...
and served as the president of
Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacat ...
, where he helped grow the hotel chain.
He is the father of J.B.,
Anthony
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonia (gens), Antonii'', a ''gens'' (Roman naming conventions, Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were ...
and
Penny Pritzker
Penny Sue Pritzker (born May 2, 1959) is an American billionaire businesswoman and civic leader who served as the 38th United States secretary of commerce in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017. She was confirmed by a Senate vote of 97 ...
.
Early life and education
Pritzker was born to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, the son of Fanny (née Doppelt) and
A. N. Pritzker
Abram Nicholas Pritzker (January 6, 1896 – February 8, 1986) was an American businessman and member of the Pritzker family.
Early life and education
Abram was the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, Annie P. (née Cohn) and Nicholas J. Pritzk ...
. He had two older brothers:
Jay Pritzker
Jay Arthur Pritzker (August 26, 1922 – January 23, 1999) was an American entrepreneur, conglomerate organizer, and member of the Pritzker family.
Early life and education
Pritzker was born in Chicago, Illinois to Jewish parents who emi ...
(1922–1999) and
Robert Pritzker
Robert Alan 'Bob' Pritzker (June 30, 1926 – October 27, 2011) was an American businessman and member of the wealthy Pritzker family.
Biography
Pritzker was born to a Jewish family, the Pritzker family,Francis W. Parker School, and graduated with a B.A. from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
as well as a J.D. from the law school at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
In 1961, after he graduated from law school, he went to work for the family company, the
Marmon Group
Marmon Group is an American industrial holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois; founded by Jay Pritzker and Robert Pritzker in 1953 (as Colson Corporation), it has been held by the Berkshire Hathaway group since 2013. It owns companies ...
Jay Pritzker
Jay Arthur Pritzker (August 26, 1922 – January 23, 1999) was an American entrepreneur, conglomerate organizer, and member of the Pritzker family.
Early life and education
Pritzker was born in Chicago, Illinois to Jewish parents who emi ...
assigned him the task of managing the Hyatt Hotel chain. Donald moved to
Atherton, California
Atherton () is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 7,188 as of 2020.
Atherton is known for its wealth; in 1990 and 2019, Athe ...
and went about developing the chain and soon became Hyatt's president. In 1967, the Pritzkers bought a newly built hotel in downtown Atlanta out of bankruptcy which had an unusual design consisting of a 21-story atrium lobby with external glass elevators, fountains, and caged tropical birds. Donald renamed it the ''Hyatt Regency Atlanta''; it became an instant success and served as the architectural model for all future Hyatt hotels.
Donald was credited with "setting the tone for the culture and philosophy at Hyatt" and presided over its growth from a six hotel chain to the 5th largest hotel chain in the world at the time of his death.
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...
. They had three children:
*
Penny Pritzker
Penny Sue Pritzker (born May 2, 1959) is an American billionaire businesswoman and civic leader who served as the 38th United States secretary of commerce in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017. She was confirmed by a Senate vote of 97 ...
(born 1959), the 38th
United States Secretary of Commerce
The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
*
Anthony Pritzker
Anthony Nicholas Pritzker (born January 7, 1961) is a member of the Pritzker family and an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune; he serves as managing partner of the Pritzker Group.
Early life and education
Pritzker was born to a Jewish family, one of ...
(born 1961), managing partner of the Pritzker Group.BusinessWeek profile /ref>Milken Institute biography /ref>
* Jay Robert Pritzker (born 1965), managing partner of the Pritzker Group and
Governor of Illinois
The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...
. and the 512th richest person in the world.
Death
Pritzker died in 1972 at age 39 of a heart attack while playing tennis at a Hyatt hotel in Honolulu. His wife died 10 years later in an accident at age 49.
Donald
Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...