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Neil Bluhm
Neil Gary Bluhm (born 1938) is an American billionaire real estate and casino magnate. He is a partner of Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, which owns several casinos.[1][2][3] He had an estimated net worth of US$7 billion in October 2021.[4] Early lifeBluhm was born to a Jewish family in 1938 in Chicago.[4][5] His father left the family when he was 13, and his mother worked as a bookkeeper.[1] 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.[4][1] In 2009, he received Northwestern's Alumni Medal, the highest honor an alumnus can receive from the university.[7] CareerHe 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[1] 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 and his children own real estate in Chicago and elsewhere, including Chicago's 900 North Michigan and Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton Hotels. The family is a minority owner of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox.[9][10] According to Forbes, he had a net worth of US$7.0 billion in October 2021.[4] Personal lifeHe is divorced from art collector and philanthropist Barbara Bluhm-Kaul. They have 3 children: Andy Bluhm, who runs hedge fund Delaware Street Capital;[1] Leslie Bluhm, who co-founded Chicago Cares,[1] and currently serves as a Director on the Board of AmeriCorps under the Biden administration,[1] and Meredith Bluhm-Wolf, who helps direct the family's business and charitable foundation.[1] He is currently married to Kimberly Paige Bluhm.[11] He lives in Chicago.[4] In December 2018, he purchased an apartment near Miami for $20 million.[12] An art patron, he sits on the board of trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum of American Art.[4] He has an art collection worth $300 million.[4] He sits on the board of trustees of Northwestern University.[13] Political contributionsBluhm is a Democrat. He hosted President Barack Obama's 49th birthday party, where admission cost a $30,000 donation to the Democratic National Committee.[4][1] He has contributed to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Dick Durbin, Melissa Bean, Rahm Emanuel, Lisa Madigan, Rod Blagojevich, Lou Lang, and Michael Madigan.[1] In 2017, Bluhm was criticized after calling in a request to Rahm Emanuel after making a $300,000 contribution.[14] PhilanthropyIn 2005, he funded the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute with a $10 million gift.[15] In 2013, he made a $25 million gift to Northwestern University, including $15 million earmarked for the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.[16] In 2015, he made a $1 million donation to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[17] In 2022, he made a $45 million donation to Northwestern Medicine to establish the Bluhm Heart Hospital.[18] References
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