Neil Gary Bluhm (born 1938) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

real estate and casino

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

. He is a partner of Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, which owns several casinos. He had an estimated net worth of US$7.8 billion in February 2025.

Early life

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

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

in 1959, studying accounting, and in 1962, he received a

juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. In 2009, he received Northwestern's Alumni Medal, the highest honor an alumnus can receive from the university.

Career

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 JMB Realty was a real estate investment company based in Chicago. In 1993, after suffering during the early 1990s recession, the company spun off its retail properties as Urban Shopping Centers, Inc., which was acquired by Rodamco in 2000 and b ...

with Judd Malkin, his high school friend and college roommate. In 1994, he co-founded Walton Street Capital, a private equity firm. Soon thereafter, with Greg Carlin, he co-founded Rush Street Gaming. 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 The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. According to ''Forbes'', he had a net worth of US$7.0 billion in October 2021.

Personal life

He is divorced from art collector and philanthropist Barbara Bluhm-Kaul. They have 3 children: Andy Bluhm, who runs

hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...

Delaware Street Capital; Leslie Bluhm, who co-founded Chicago Cares, and recently served as a Director on the Board of

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in ...

under the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

, and Meredith Bluhm-Wolf, who helps direct the family's business and charitable foundation. He is currently married to Kimberly Paige Bluhm. He lives in Chicago. In December 2018, he purchased an apartment near Miami for $20 million. An art patron, he sits on the board of trustees of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

and the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

. He has an art collection worth over $300 million. He sits on the board of trustees of

Political contributions

Bluhm is a Democrat. He hosted President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's 49th birthday party, where admission cost a $30,000 donation to the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

. He has contributed to the campaigns of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Dem ...

Melissa Bean Melissa Bean (née Luburich; born January 22, 1962) is an Americans, American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2005 to 2011. Bean is a member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...

Lisa Madigan Lisa Murray Madigan (born July 30, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served as Illinois Attorney General, Attorney General of the U.S. state of Illinois from 2003 t ...

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

Lou Lang Louis I. Lang (born November 26, 1949) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 16th District from 1987 until 2019. Personal life and education Lou graduated ...

, and

Michael Madigan Michael Joseph Madigan (born April 19, 1942) is an American politician and convicted felon who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the longes ...

. In 2017, Bluhm was criticized after calling in a request to

after making a $300,000 contribution.

Philanthropy

In 2005, he funded the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute with a $10 million gift. In 2013, he made a $25 million gift to

, including $15 million earmarked for the

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (formerly known as Northwestern University School of Law from 1891 to 2015) is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. The law school is located on the univer ...

. In 2015, he made a $1 million donation to the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

. In 2022, he made a $45 million donation to Northwestern Medicine to establish the Bluhm Heart Hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bluhm, Neil Living people 1938 births 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American philanthropists American billionaires American casino industry businesspeople American businesspeople in real estate Businesspeople from Chicago Chicago Bulls owners Chicago White Sox owners Gies College of Business alumni Illinois Democrats Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni Northwestern University trustees People associated with Mayer Brown