Jay Robert (“JB”) Pritzker and his brother Tony founded “The Pritzker Group,” a private capital investment company.
While most of America’s economy struggles during this pandemic, The Pritzker Group’s holdings are making money hand over fist as government-approved “essential” businesses.
JB’s capital investment group owns companies producing and processing COVID-19 tests, disinfectants, plexiglass partitions, foods, fumigation/sterilization products, food take-out containers and a whole lot more.
All very “essential” products and services.
All making really big money.
And in all likelihood, much of those profits have made their way into the pocketbook of the company’s founders, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and his brother Tony.
Does this create a conflict of interest with Gov. Pritzker’s handling of the Chinese flu virus in Illinois?
Now, ordinarily we wouldn’t think that making a few million (or even tens of millions of) dollars personally would influence our governor’s decision making for Illinois’ 13 million residents. But then we recall how he removed five toilets from one of his Chicago properties to change its property tax classification to “uninhabitable” in order to lower the tax bill by a mere $330,000.
From NPR:
In the final weeks of the Illinois governor’s race, one unusual topic has been stealing headlines: J.B. Pritzker’s toilets.
Pritzker is the Democratic nominee, a venture capitalist, and a very wealthy man — an heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, he’s worth $3.2 billion.
In 2007, Pritzker and his wife bought a second mansion next to the one they live in on Chicago’s Astor Street, for $3.7 million. As The Chicago Sun-Times reported, that mansion remained vacant and was allowed to fall into disrepair.
And then in October 2015, according to a report by Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard, the Pritzkers had five toilets removed from the second house so that it would be classified as “uninhabitable” in a property tax appeal filed by the Pritzkers. Cook County assesses vacant properties at 10 percent of the market value.
The toilets were removed shortly before the affidavits in the property tax appeal were submitted. The county assessor’s office “lowered the 6,378-square-foot mansion’s assessed value from $6.3 million to about $1.1 million,” The Chicago Tribune reports.
As a result, the inspector general writes, “the County ultimately fell victim to a scheme to defraud … which resulted in the property owner ultimately receiving property tax refunds totaling $132,747.18 for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, as well as additional tax savings of $198,684.85 for the years 2015 and 2016.”
Pritzker said Tuesday he would pay the Cook County treasurer’s office $330,000 by the end of the week. The day before, he had defended the deduction, saying he had “followed the rules.”
The holdings.
Among the Pritzker Group’s many holdings: Path Group which owns Pathologists Bio-Medical Laboratories. And as of March 16, 2020, Pathologists Bio-Medical Laboratories is offering COVID-19 testing. So each COVID-19 test processed by Path Group provides revenue going directly to The Pritzker Group. And the more testing equals more money.
Plaskolite broadcasts how it offers a host of disinfectant solutions, including barriers and face shields. Including “polycarbonate solutions for bus and train partitions.”
ProAmpac manufacturers food and beverage carry-out solutions.
Entact provides environmental remediation as part of their “essential critical infrastructure” work. This includes COVID-19 decontamination services.
PECO Pallets makes pallets. Lots of pallets.
Valicor Environmental Services provides decontamination services. They prominently promote their COVID-19 decontamination services.
PLZ Aeroscience manufactures cleaners and aerosol disinfectants for cleaning, including for neutralizing the Chinese virus.
C.H. Guenther & Son touts “We’re essential” in the food production business on their LinkedIn page.
KabaFusion specializes in home infusions (and seeks to lift restrictions on these during the “current health crisis”).
Look at the above headline photo from The Pritzker Group’s website. It was posted in 2017 before JB ran for governor. A gaggle of eighteen people without a single woman and only one African-American. Is this the sort of diversity JB prefers in real life when nobody’s looking?
It also probably won’t surprise you to learn that each and every last one of Pritzker Private Capital’s “Senior Advisors” are older white males.
Seen this on another website somewhere else. It was the picture of someone at a rally holding up a sign that said, ” FREEDOM IS ESSENTIAL!.” Let that be our battle cry!
Just remember Folks, while this fat *ss is filling his pockets with our money; we are going broke.
Small business is the back-Bone of our economy and Country.
Fat Boy and his Demo-RAT friends are destroying our state and our country.
I hope you are reminding everyone one of this fact.
An Italian politician understands the REAL threat of this Virus but our Slob governor does not.