‘By all means marry; if you have a good woman, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher,’ the eminent Greek philosopher Socrates reportedly stated.
Helen Zell, Sam Zell’s wife, unquestionably had a significant impact on his life. She was the billionaire’s third wife, but she was the one who stood next to him and praised his professional accomplishments.
Sam Zell, a corporate billionaire and real estate magnate, passed away on May 18, 2023, at the age of 81.
The company that Mr. Zell created and oversaw, Equity Group Investments, released a statement to confirm his passing.
The statement withheld information about Mr. Zell’s passing. It did, however, disclose that the billionaire died as a result of a condition for which he had just lately received a diagnosis.
Success for Sam Zell was widely known. The billionaire probably alternated between boardrooms and financial columns for the majority of his life.
Like Mr. Zell, when you have a full day of activities, you want to return home to a partner who is sympathetic to your situation.
Without a question, Helen was that person for him. She encouraged him professionally and offered comfort to him as a partner.
Before we delve into Helen Zell’s accomplishments, let’s have a better understanding of her life.
Helen Zell is the executive director of the Zell Family Foundation in addition to being the billionaire Sam Zell’s wife and a prominent figure in the arts and education.
Helen Zell, formerly Helen Shiller, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 18, 1946.
She has a keen ear for music, literature, and the visual arts. She is the head of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association’s board of trustees.
She also serves on the boards of numerous theatres and institutions of modern art.
Her charitable endeavours are likewise openly displayed to everyone. She sits on the boards of directors of foundations that seek to enhance public education in the city as well as organisations that promote the healthy development of children at risk.
Her main objective has been to improve the standard of living in low-income neighbourhoods. She tries to better the lives of poor communities by educating their children because she firmly believes in the power of education.
Helen is a University of Michigan alumna, and her support of the school’s Literature, Science, and Arts programme shows how much she cares about her alma university.
Helen Zell, the wife of Sam Zell, combines her work with the Zell Family Foundation with her own projects to make charitable contributions.
The Helen Zell Writers’ Programme, formerly known as the university’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree programme in Creative Writing, receives considerable continuous financing from the Zell Family Foundation.
It is a two-year creative writing course with a focus on either poetry or fiction.
In Helen’s resume are listed a variety of professional positions she has had, including general manager of the Chicago String Ensemble, project director and acquisitions editor for Science Research Associates, Inc., and editor of journals published by the American Society.
Helen afterwards had the joy of running her own interior design business.
Regarding her educational background, Helen Zell holds a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
At a business meeting in the late 1980s, she met Sam Zell. They were each other’s pillars of support ever since getting married in 1995 and up to Mr. Zell’s passing.
Sam and Helen Zell have worked together to advance issues involving the arts, education, and neighbourhood improvement.
The former power couple utilised their resources and clout to improve their neighbourhood because they believed in the transformative power of giving back.
Sam Zell was a successful self-made businessman. Over the course of his six-decade entrepreneurial career, he founded and expanded hundreds of businesses.
As a result, he produced millions of employment and invested in numerous global enterprises.
The modern real estate investment trust, which is now a $4 trillion business, was one of his most important innovations.
In Chicago, Zell was born on September 28, 1941. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1966.
He practised law for one week after graduating before realising that it was not his area of expertise.
In 1968, Zell and Robert H. Lurie, a former business associate of his, founded the organisation that would become Equity Group Investments.
They worked together until Lurie’s unexpected death in 1990 to grow the little company into a major multinational.
When Sam Zell first started his work, his personal life saw several setbacks. His first two marriages, out of the three he had throughout his life, ended in divorce.
As a result, he had three kids: JoAnn, from his first marriage, and Matthew, from his second marriage. He also had a biological daughter named Kellie.
The children and third wife of Mr. Zell, Helen Zell, are still alive.
Sam Zell’s foray into publishing while serving as chairman of the Tribune Company was a colossal disaster that lasted five years and plunged the company into a swirl of animosity, layoffs, management scandals, and bankruptcy.
The Tribune Company emerged from bankruptcy at the end of 2012 largely intact but with only half of its initial value.
Polish Jews who had fled to America in 1939 as World War II seized Europe bore Zell.
Because of his propensity for reviving objects that appeared to be dead, he was popularly nicknamed as the “grave dancer.”
Sam Zell led a successful life. His accomplishments are indisputable, and the real estate market will suffer without him.