Media Contact: Edie Munk, (619) 822-0510, emunk@ucsd.edu or
                           Jan Jennings, (619) 822-1684, jnjennings@ucsd.edu

Takeover specialist Samuel Zell – the flamboyant Chicago deal-maker who has amassed a nearly billion dollar real estate fortune purchasing, then turning distressed companies into profit – will discuss Real Estate in the 21^st Century at the April 7 breakfast meeting of the UCSD Economics Roundtable in the Faculty Club at the University of California, San Diego.  A question and answer session will follow his talk.

Founder and chairman of the board of Equity Group Investments, Inc., an entrepreneurial real estate investment firm based in Chicago, Zell finagles irons in numerous lucrative fires.  Of his expertise, Fortune magazine’s Andrew Serwer says, "In the realm of real estate, Zell is usually ahead of everybody else." Business Week headlines him as "a storied scavenger."

Locally, according to UCSD economics professor and roundtable chairman Ross Starr, "Zell owns some San Diego property, bought – as is his wont – in financial distress."

The entrepreneur juggles numerous chairman hats, including those heading the Board of Trustees for Equity Residential Properties, the largest apartment real estate investment trust in the United States, and Equity Office Properties, the largest office portfolio of any publicly traded, full-service office company in the United States.  He also is chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and a generous supporter of his alma mater, the University of Michigan where he established the Zell/Lurie Entrepreneurial Award Program, an innovative attempt to fund entrepreneurial awareness.

Though Zell’s first love is real estate, his empire includes Jacor (the radio company), Chart House restaurants, telecom, and cruise ships.

Registration for the 7:30 a.m. April 7 roundtable, which is $50 per person and includes a continental breakfast, may be made with Edie Munk at (619) 822-0510.  Members of the news media are invited to attend free of charge but are asked to make reservations in advance.

The UCSD Economics Roundtable was founded in 1991 to provide top business professionals and community leaders in the San Diego area with the opportunity to share the views and opinions of renowned experts in the fields of economics, finance, business and public policy.  It is hosted by the UCSD Department of Economics and UCSD Extended Studies and Public Programs.