Pritzker Family Enterprise: A Family Governance Case Study

For generations, the Pritzkers, one of the wealthiest and most philanthropic families in the United States, primarily managed their assets in order to enrich the family as a whole, as opposed to generating wealth for individual family members. The Pritzkers were historically publicity shy, but their saga gained much media attention in the early 2000s when some family members questioned the asset distribution and leadership requests of their forefathers. This case asks students to consider what the Pritzker family story tells us about the challenges of building a strong family governance system.