The Man Behind Hyatt: Jay Pritzker's Billion-Dollar Legacy
The Man Behind Hyatt:?Hyatt was founded by Jay Pritzker in 1957 when he purchased the Hyatt House motel adjacent to the Los Angeles International Airport. Over the following decade, Jay Pritzker and his brother, Donald Pritzker, working together with other Pritzker family business interests, grew the company into a North American management and hotel ownership company, which became a public company in 1962.
In 1968, Hyatt International was formed and subsequently became a separate public company. Hyatt Corporation and Hyatt International Corporation were taken private by the Pritzker family business interests in 1979 and 1982, respectively. On December 31, 2004, substantially all of the hospitality assets owned by Pritzker family business interests, including Hyatt Corporation and Hyatt International Corporation, were consolidated under a single entity, now Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
Who was Jay Pritzker, founder of Hyatt Hotel?
Jay Pritzker was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 26, 1922. He was a smart and driven person who, along with his brother Robert, started the Marmon Group and Hyatt Hotels. His dad, Abram Nicholas Pritzker, was the head of the wealthy Pritzker family in the US, and Jay was one of his three sons.
Jay was really bright from the start. He went to the University of Chicago when he was just 14 and later got degrees in both law and a bachelor's from Northwestern University. Even though law was the family trade, Jay decided to do something different. He and his brother Robert set up the Marmon Group in 1953, which managed all the Pritzker family's investments. As time went on, they invested in lots of manufacturing and transportation businesses.
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Hyatt was founded by Jay Pritzker in 1957
While on a business trip to Los Angeles in 1957, Jay noticed that fellow businesspeople like him, who were in town for short trips, might prefer staying near the airport rather than in the city center. He found out that the closest motel to the airport was fully booked, so he struck a deal with the owner, Hyatt Von Dehn, to buy it on the spot for $2.2 million. That motel was called Hyatt House.
Jay, along with his brother Donald, started to expand the Hyatt brand. Their second property, another Hyatt House motel, was near San Francisco International Airport. They then grew outside California, setting up hotels near airports and in city centers across the country. In 1967, they opened the Regency Hyatt House in Atlanta, which was the first hotel to have an atrium design. Visitors were skeptical, thinking hot air might create a rain shower inside the atrium. But this design became a trademark of Hyatt Regency hotels. The first international Hyatt opened in 1969, called the Hong Kong Hyatt Hotel (now known as Hyatt Regency Hong Kong).
Jay passed away on January 23, 1999. At the time, the fortune he and his brother Robert had amassed was estimated to be around $13.5 billion. His legacy includes the annual Pritzker Architectural Prize, which gives $100,000 to outstanding architects, and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park, completed in 2004.
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Today, Hyatt Hotels Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: H) and oversees more than 900 hotels spanning across 65 countries. In addition to Hyatt House and Hyatt Regency, the company's diverse portfolio of brands encompasses Park Hyatt, the Unbound Collection, and Hyatt Centric. Leading the helm as chairman is Thomas Pritzker, the son of Jay Pritzker.
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The history OF HYATT
- 1957 - Jay Pritzker buys Hyatt House, a small motor lodge near LAX.
- 1967 - Hyatt Regency Atlanta becomes the first Hyatt Regency property. The dramatic, 22-story atrium lobby and groundbreaking design spawn many imitators, and define Hyatt as a leader in global hospitality.
- 1969 - Hyatt Regency Hong Kong becomes Hyatt¡¯s first international location.
- 1972 -Always on the cutting edge of customer service, Hyatt opens a central reservations office in Omaha, Nebraska-with a dedicated toll-free 800 number.
- 1980 - Grand Hyatt New York and Park Hyatt Chicago open and add two iconic brands to Hyatt's portfolio.
- 1987 - Hyatt Gold Passport launches as Hyatt's loyalty program.
- 1995 - Hyatt Sunset Harbor, in Key West, Florida, heralds Hyatt¡¯s arrival to the vacation ownership market.
- 2006 - The Hyatt Place brand is introduced in Lombard, Illinois. At the same time, Hyatt purchases Summerfield Suites with an aim to expand into the extended stay market.?
- 2007 - The stylist Andaz brand debuts on Liverpool Street in London.?
- 2009 - Hyatt goes public on the NYSE, trading under the ticker symbol H.?
- 2011 - Hyatt Thrive launches as Hyatt's global corporate responsibility platform.
- 2012 - Hyatt Summerfield Suites is rebranded as Hyatt House.
- 2013 - With the debut of the Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara brands in Mexico, Hyatt is advancing into the rapidly growing segment of all-inclusive resorts.
- 2015 - The Hyatt Centric brand launches with its first location in Chicago offering accessible, chic lodgings in prime city locations for the cosmopolitan traveler.?
- 2016 - The Unbound Collection by Hyatt becomes the 12th brand in Hyatt¡¯s portfolio, introducing guests to a whole new range of experiences.
- 2017 - On March 1, World of Hyatt launches as a reimagined loyalty program designed to deepen engagement with Hyatt¡¯s most loyal guests.
- 2018 - The new World of Hyatt Credit Card launches, rewarding members for how they live, work and travel, including an industry-first Bonus Points fitness category. Hyatt completes the acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality, expanding its hotel and resort portfolio with the inclusion of brands like Alila, Destination by Hyatt, JdV by Hyatt, and Thompson Hotels.?
- 2019 - Hyatt announces two new hotel brands, Caption by Hyatt, a lifestyle brand designed to inspire personal connections, and UrCove, a brand developed in a joint venture with BTG Homeinns Hotels Group to cater to China¡¯s growing upper-midscale market of frequent business travelers. World of Hyatt continues to advance, connect and add to the program with a newly designed mobile app, expansion of Small Luxury Hotels of the World destinations, and new alliances with American Airlines and Lindblad Expeditions.?
- 2020 - On January 15, Hyatt announces a new global wellbeing collaboration with Headspace, a leader in mindfulness and meditation. Members can access a curated selection of meditations and sleep exercises in the World of Hyatt app and in-room at participating Hyatt hotels.?
- 2021 - On November 2, Hyatt announced the acquisition of Apple Leisure Group (ALG),?a leading luxury resort-management services, travel, and hospitality group?with a unique collection?of?resort?brands with the AMR? Collection, which consists of more than 100 hotels and resorts across 10 countries.
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