Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> June 2, 2003
SAMUEL ZELL is Chairman of Equity Office Properties Trust. He is
a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of
Michigan Law School. Mr. Zell began his career in real estate
while an undergraduate at the university by managing apartment
buildings throughout southeast Michigan. He continued his
interests in real estate with the founding of Equity Group
Investments, LLC (formerly known as Equity Financial and
Management Company), an entrepreneurial investment firm based in
Chicago where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board. Mr.
Zell maintains substantial interests in and serves as Chairman of
the Board of various corporations which include Anixter
International, a value-added provider of integrated networking
and cabling solutions that support business information and
network infrastructure requirements; Angelo and Maxie's, an owner
and operator of restaurants; Manufactured Home Communities, Inc.,
a self-administered and self-managed equity real estate
investment trust which owns and operates manufactured home
communities in 26 states; Equity Residential Properties Trust,
the largest apartment real estate investment trust in the United
States; Equity Office Properties Trust, the largest office
portfolio of any publicly traded, full-service office company in
the United States; Capital Trust, a specialized real estate
finance company; Danielson Holding Corporation, a financial
services and investment company; and iDine Rewards Network Inc.,
a leading provider of dining rewards programs. All of these are
publicly traded companies. Mr. Zell recently completed a two-year
term as Chairman of the National Association of Real Estate
Investment Trusts. He serves as a Trustee of the Field Museum in
Chicago. He serves on the President's Advisory Board at the
University of Michigan, the Visitor's Committee at the University
of Michigan Law School, and with the combined efforts of the
University of Michigan Business School, established the
Zell/Lurie Entrepreneurial Center. Mr. Zell's continual
assistance to Michigan's MBA program has also enhanced the
Business School's Polish Studies Program. He was appointed a
DeRoy Visiting Professor in Honors at the College of Literature,
Science and the Arts at the University of Michigan. He is a
longstanding supporter of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton
Real Estate Center and has endowed the Samuel Zell/Robert Lurie
Real Estate Center at Wharton. Mr. Zell is a member of the
Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago's School of
Public Policy. Profile
Properties Trust?
Mr. Zell: Equity Office Properties Trust is the largest REIT
overall in the marketplace, as well as the largest
