Jennifer Pritzker is an American investor and philanthropist who focuses on military causes. She is the first out transgender billionaire.
Background
Jennifer Natalya Pritzker was born on August 13, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. She has two siblings and two half-siblings. Her family founded the Hyatt hotel chain and controlled a diversified holding company that was sold to Berkshire Hathaway in 2013. In 2023 the family’s net worth was estimated at about $37 billion, with her share around $2 billion.
At age 23, Pritzker enlisted in the army, rising to the rank of sergeant. She earned a bachelor’s degree in 1979 from Loyola University of Chicago, then returned to the Army to serve as a commissioned officer until 1985. Pritzker then served in the Army Reserves and Illinois Army National Guard until 2001 rising to rank of lieutenant colonel.
In 1995, Pritzker founded the nonprofit Tawani Foundation. In 1996 she founded wealth management firm Tawani Enterprises. In 2003 she founded the Pritzker Military Library. She is involved in a number of private equity and national security ventures.
Pritzker has been married three times and has three children. She came out as transgender in 2013.
Transgender philanthropy
In 2003, the Tawani Foundation made a $1.35 million donation to theĀ Palm CenterĀ at theĀ University of California, Santa Barbara, to study the feasibility of transgender people serving in the military and in the ranks of police and fire departments.
In 2016, through her Foundation, Pritzker gave a $2 million donation to create the world’s first endowed academic chair ofĀ transgender studies, at theĀ University of Victoria in British Columbia;Ā Aaron DevorĀ was chosen as the inaugural chair.
Pritzker was a major Republican donor until the party began sustained legislative attacks on transgender people un Donald Trump.
Some anti-transgender activists, including Rick Wiles, Jennifer Bilek, and Helen Joyce, have concocted a conspiracy theory that a cabal of Jewish billionaires including Pritzker are behind the burgeoning transgender movement.
References
Leveille, Lee (April 12, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: What is āTAnonā? Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/04/12/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-what-is-tanon/
Leveille, Lee (July 5, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: Where it Came From. Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/07/05/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-where-it-came-from/
Lorber, Ben; Greenesmith, Heron (April 28, 2021). Antisemitism Meets Transphobia. The Progressive https://progressive.org/magazine/antisemitism-meets-transphobia-greenesmith-lorber/
Joyce, Helen (August 8, 2021). Trans Activismās Long March through Our Institutions. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/08/trans-activisms-long-march-through-our-institutions/
ADL (January 24, 2023). Antisemitism & Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate Converge in Extremist and Conspiratorial Beliefs. Center on Extremism https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/antisemitism-anti-lgbtq-hate-converge-extremist-and-conspiratorial-beliefs
Bilek, Jennifer (June 14, 2022). The Billionaire Family Pushing Synthetic Sex Identities (SSI). Tablet https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers
Dodds, Io (June 26, 2022). How paranoia over trans rights became catnip for QAnon and the far right. The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/transgender-far-right-qanon-violence-b2108235.html
Butler, Jack (June 28, 2022). The Money behind the Transgender Movement. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-money-behind-the-transgender-movement/
Resources
Pritzker Military Museum and Library (pritzkermilitary.org)
Tawani Ventures (tawaniventures.com)
Tawani Foundation (tawanifoundation.org)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)