Penny Pritzker
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Penny Sue Pritzker (born May 2, 1959) is an American heiress, businesswoman, and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2017 as the 38th United States secretary of commerce. She was confirmed by a Senate vote of 97–1. Pritzker is a member of the prominent Pritzker family and was involved with the family business from a young age. She was eventually appointed as one of three successors to her uncle, Jay Pritzker. She is the founder of finance and real estate concerns PSP Partners, PSP Capital Partners, and Pritzker Realty Group, and co-founder of Artemis Real Estate Partners and Inspired Capital. She is on the board of Microsoft and was chair of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. As of May 2025, Forbes estimated her net worth at $3.9 billion. In 2009, Forbes named Pritzker one of the 100 most powerful women in the world. She is the sister of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Pritzker has been involved in several Chicago-based organizations, including the Chicago Board of Education, Museum of Contemporary Art, and her own foundation, the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation. A friend of the Obama family since their Chicago years, Pritzker was an early supporter of Barack Obama's presidential candidacy. From 2021 to 2022, Pritzker was a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and from September 2023 to August 2024, she was the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery. She has been a fellow of the Harvard Corporation since 2018 and was elected Senior Fellow in 2022, the first woman to serve in this capacity.