Samuel Zell (born Shmuel Zielonka, September 28, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. A former lawyer, Zell is the founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments, a private investment firm, founded in 1968. He has interests in and is the chairman of several public companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange: Equity Residential (EQR), Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS), Equity Commonwealth (EQC), and Covanta Holding Corp. (CVA), and Anixter. In October 2021, Zell had an estimated net worth of US $6.0 billion, according to Forbes.