Neil Bluhm

Bluhm was born to a Jewish family in 1938 in Chicago.[1][5] His father left the family when he was 13, and his mother worked as a bookkeeper.[2] He grew up in a cramped apartment near his immigrant grandparents. He attended a high school on Chicago's northwest side.[6]

He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1959, studying accounting, and in 1962, he received a juris doctor degree from Northwestern University.[1][2] In 2009, he received Northwestern’s Alumni Medal, the highest honor an alumnus can receive from the university.[7]

He started his career as a lawyer and eventually a partner in the Chicago law firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt. In 1969, he co-founded JMB Realty[2] with Judd Malkin, his high school friend and college roommate.[8][6]

In 1994, he co-founded Walton Street Capital, a private equity firm. Soon thereafter, with Greg Carlin, he co-founded Rush Street Gaming.[8]

Bluhm owns real estate in Chicago and elsewhere, including Chicago's 900 North Michigan and Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton Hotels. He is a minority owner of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox.[9][10]

He is divorced from Barbara Bluhm-Kaul. They have 3 children: Andy Bluhm, who runs hedge fund Delaware Street Capital;[2] Leslie Bluhm, who co-founded Chicago Cares,[2] and Meredith Bluhm-Wolf, a philanthropist.[2]

He lives in Chicago.[1] In December 2018, he purchased an apartment near Miami for $20 million.[11]

An art patron, he sits on the board of trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum of American Art.[1] He has an art collection worth $300 million.[1] He sits on the board of trustees of Northwestern University.[12]