Sam Zell, Investments in Real Estate

Samuel Zell, president and chairman of Equity Group Investments LLC, was the keynote speaker at the April 2007 Jeffrey E. Smith Institute of Real Estate Second Annual Forum (see video below). Zell, whose recent sale of Equity Office Properties Trust represented the at the time the largest private buyout in history, spoke about the role of liquidity and private funds in the real estate industry.

Other presenters during the daylong forum included Peter Korpacz, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in real estate research; Dean Schwanke, senior vice-president of the Urban Land Institute; Harvey Eisen, chairman and CEO of Bedford Oak Advisors; J. Robert Bray, senior vice-president for Real Estate USA, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Jana Cohen Blackman, partner at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal; and Beth Mullen, principal of Reznick Group.

This annual event includes nationally recognized speakers and research presentations on topics of interest to the commercial real estate industry. MU students in the real estate curriculum learn from the experiences and perspectives of the presenters, and also have the chance to network and interact with other attendees, including professional real estate managers from across the region.

"We think it is important to expose students to national leaders in the real estate industry," said Sam Goldman, director of the Jeffrey E. Smith Institute of Real Estate. "Additionally, since we're the only real estate institute in the area, it’s an opportunity for people hear from other successful real estate industry leaders. We are looking forward to the next forum, which is scheduled for April 4, 2008."

Watch Zell’s keynote address with an introduction by Jeffrey E. Smith.