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 (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The ...

real estate and casino

magnate The magnate term, 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 billion in October 2021.

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 (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

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

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

. 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 bro ...

with Judd Malkin, his high school friend and college roommate. In 1994, he co-founded

Walton Street Capital Walton Street Capital is a private equity real estate investment firm founded in 1994 and headquartered in Chicago, with a satellite office in Mexico City. Through its affiliates, Walton Street Capital has raised over $14 billion of equity and loa ...

, 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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. 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 pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as ...

Delaware Street Capital; Leslie Bluhm, who co-founded

Chicago Cares Chicago Cares is a nonprofit organization that connects prospective volunteers with volunteer opportunities throughout Chicago. It was founded in 1991 by Leslie Bluhm and Mary Prchal and has mobilized more than 600,000 volunteers from all over Ch ...

, and currently serves as a Director on the Board of

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps (officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work pro ...

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. Biden, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from Delaw ...

, and Meredith Bluhm-Wolf, who helps direct the family's business and charitable foundation. 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 in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...

and the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

. He has an art collection worth $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 served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

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

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well ...

. He has contributed to the campaigns of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

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

Melissa Bean Melissa Luburich Bean (born January 22, 1962) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2005 to 2011. Bean is a member of the Democratic Party. Early life, education, and business career Bean attended Maine Eas ...

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

, Lisa Madigan,

Rod Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...

, Lou Lang, and Michael Madigan. 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 Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law schoo ...

. 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 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 grew into the museum an ...

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

References

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