Sam Zell, billionaire real estate investor, dies

Sam Zell, a Chicago existent property magnate who earned a multibillion-dollar luck and a estimation arsenic "the sedate dancer" for his quality to revive moribund properties has died owed to complications from a caller illness. He was 81.

Bearded and blunt-spoken, Zell reveled successful bucking accepted wisdom. He had a aureate interaction with existent estate, and got his commencement managing flat buildings arsenic a assemblage student. By the clip helium reached his 70s, helium had amassed a luck estimated astatine $3.8 billion.

Zell sold Equity Office, the office-tower institution helium spent 3 decades building, to Blackstone Group for $39 cardinal successful 2007.

A period later, helium made different woody that yet tarnished his image: the acquisition of the ailing Tribune Co. for $13 billion. The media elephantine filed for bankruptcy the pursuing year.

"Sam Zell was a self-made, visionary entrepreneur. He launched and grew hundreds of companies during his 60-plus-year vocation and created countless jobs. Although his investments spanned industries crossed the globe, helium was astir wide recognized for his captious relation successful creating the modern existent property concern trust, which contiguous is simply a much than $4 trillion industry," Equity Group Investments said successful a written connection connected Thursday.

Zell died astatine home, the institution said.

Zell is survived by his wife, Helen; his sister Julie Baskes and her husband, Roger Baskes; his sister Leah Zell; his 3 children, Kellie Zell and son-in-law Scott Peppet, Matthew Zell, and JoAnn Zell; and his 9 grandchildren.