Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker will put his personal assets into a blind trust, which means he will not provide input on any personal investments while he is governor, his transition team announced Thursday.
Pritzker’s personal wealth is estimated to be $3.2 billion, according to Forbes. The heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, Pritzker also ran a private equity firm with his brother that has stakes in dozens of consumer and technology start-ups.
The trust will hold Pritzker’s interests, which “have contracts that are wholly or partially funded with state dollars,” in compliance with Illinois laws, according to a press release from his transition team. State law also prohibits the governor’s family members from investing in companies that hold contracts with the state.
A part of the trust’s guidelines stipulate that Pritzker, the second richest politician to ever hold public office, will receive only the amount of information necessary to accurately fill out tax returns and public financial disclosures.
Much of the Pritzker family’s inherited wealth is held in family trusts, agreements that cannot be altered retroactively. Pritzker “has given up as much control and knowledge of these trusts as is possible under the law” and will not receive regular briefings on the performance of his assets, according to the press release.
The governor-elect promises not to communicate with any office of Illinois government regarding his assets and is appointing an independent adviser to oversee a team of attorneys and ethics experts to deal with any conflicts that may arise.
Pritzker knocked his similarly wealthy predecessor Gov. Bruce Rauner in the press release for putting his blind trust in the protection of a firm he had previously invested with and for conducting private investment business at the Governor’s Mansion.
