| Abram Nicholas Pritzker (January 6, 1896 – February 8, 1986) was an American businessman who founded the Hyatt hotel chain. The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, he graduated from Harvard Law School and worked for a time in the family's firm, Pritzker & Pritzker, before beginning with his brother Jack a business career that would launch a family empire. They invested in real estate and small companies, mostly around Chicago and amassing a considerable fortune. They shrewdly shielded their earnings from taxes through a series of trusts, which enabled them to distribute the money as they chose. Abram's philanthropic endeavors include funding the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago. Abram's sons, Jay, Robert, and Donald, continued to grow the family business, eventually buying the Hyatt House hotel in Los Angeles in 1957 and forming the cornerstone of their hotel chain. The business became known as the Marmon Group, and was diversified to include manufacturing concerns ranging from lumber to railroad box cars, and travel industry staples Braniff Airlines (owned 1983–88) and Royal Caribbean Cruises. As of 2006 the Pritzker family is one of the wealthiest families in the United States Reference |  |