Sam Zell
16 statements across 4 episodes · 5 bullish · 2 bearish · 4 people on the record · first statement Feb 10, 2020 by James Aitken · said 32 times in 10 episodes since 2018 · across every show →
On the record as a speaker too: Sam Zell's record, appearances and statements → this page counts the times other people say the name.
Mentions by year
brought up most by Hayden Brain (10), Ted Seides (8), Barry Sternlicht (6), James Aitken (3), John Khoury (2), Wayne Wicker (1), Jan Garfinkel (1), Herb Wagner (1)
tap a year for its mentions
2025 3 mentions in 2 episodes 2 per episode
2023 6 mentions in 2 episodes 3 per episode
2022 12 mentions in 1 episode
2021 7 mentions in 2 episodes 4 per episode
2020 2 mentions in 1 episode
Everything said about Sam Zell, oldest first
Feb 10, 2020
Oct 4, 2021
Sternlicht: Modern REIT industry was born to let owners escape recourse debt
“The reed industry was born not because people wanted to the good graces of these very rich real estate guys, it's because they were all on recourse debt, and interest rates plummeted, And all of a sudden the dividend yield of an unleveraged real estate portfol…”
Oct 4, 2021
Jun 6, 2022 positive
Zell's most successful deal was one where he lost $50 million
“One of my most successful deals was the deal we lost fifty million on. But before we did it, We did a risk analysis, concluded that if it didn't work, we were going to lose fifty million dollars, and that's what we lost. And so, from my perspective, that was a…”
Jun 6, 2022 neutral
Zell: Worth $1B in Forbes, struggling to make payroll two days later
“I had an experience in, I think it was 1992, where, ah, according to Forbes magazine, I had a net worth of a billion dollars, and it was a Wednesday, and I was worried about how to make payroll on Friday. So I learned that, yeah, I had a lot of assets, but to …”
Jun 6, 2022 neutral
Tribune buyout underwrote a 6% revenue drop; reality was 35%
“It was a deal where we assumed that the newspaper business was shrinking. We did an underwriting, whereas instead of underwriting revenue going up, we underwrote revenue going down. We assumed the level of suppression. And that number was six percent a year. W…”
Jun 6, 2022
Jun 6, 2022 bullish
Zell's grave dancing: Buy assets at 30% of replacement cost
“In the seventies, when we did our first major grave dancing from 73 to 77, we were operating on a very simple premise, and that was that if you could buy stuff at 30% of replacement cost, and you designed the buying so that you had time, Staying power. That, h…”
Jun 6, 2022 positive
Jun 6, 2022
Zell bought Playboys for 50 cents and resold them for $3
“In 1953, a guy named Hugh Hefner put out a magazine called Playboy, and I discovered it on the magazine rack, and it was 50 cents, and I bought it. And I read it on the way home on the train, and I mean, it was pictures of naked ladies, but more important, it …”
Jun 6, 2022 positive
Zell's firm had only one employee recruited away in 50 years
“We've only had one serious recruitment away from here in 50 years. That lots of people quit and start their own shop and do other things, and I'm very supportive of people pursuing their objectives. But we only had one person recruited away, and within about s…”
Jun 6, 2022 negative
Jun 6, 2022
Acquisitions struggle when selling founders forget they actually sold
“Historically, where we don't do well revolves around a scenario where the seller takes the money, but doesn't really think about the fact that he sold. And if you therefore need to remind him, that's usually a challenge to the viability of the investment.”
Jun 6, 2022
Zell sold 142 of 146 Commonwealth REIT properties in five years
“About six years ago, we took over a company called Commonwealth REIT, and we acquired about, with that process, a company with about seven billion of assets. And over the last five and a half years, we've sold a 142 out of a 146 properties. We have not bought …”
Jun 6, 2022 negative
Dec 1, 2025 bullish
Khoury: Equity LifeStyle grew earnings through every modern recession
“This is a business that's grown earnings in 99, 2002 1001, 2007, 2008. You name the year, it's grown earnings. And their business is simple, but incredibly safe. They own the land underneath manufactured homes. They don't actually own the homes. It's an incred…”