Another Billionaire Ramps Up His Profile

BY JOHN MCCORMICK

CHICAGO—If JB Pritzker runs for the Democratic presidential nomination, he will be betting his party’s best prospect is a political punchthrowing heavyset billionaire who inherited massive wealth. While that sounds like President Trump, the two-term Illinois governor would be wagering on himself.

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, has become one of the most-outspoken critics of Trump as Democrats are struggling to counter him. Wealth has long opened doors for Pritzker and there are signs he wants the next one to be into the Oval Office.

The 60-year-old is visiting New Hampshire, traditional home of the nation’s first presidential primary, to speak on April 27 at a party fundraiser about what he sees as Trump’s authoritarianism and to call Democrats to action. The trip is likely to boost speculation that Pritzker, among those vetted by Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign as a possible running mate, is interested in the 2028 nomination.

“There is no doubt that he is going to run,” said Chicagoan Bill Daley, who served as President Bill Clinton’s commerce secretary and President Barack Obama’s chief of staff. “The real question is whether he runs for re-election first or just runs for president.”

The governor, who declined an interview, has yet to say whether he will seek a third term. An announcement is expected in the next few months, with the March 2026 primary less than 11 months away.

Daley said he would recommend against another gubernatorial bid because a crisis or scandal can pop up at an inconvenient time. Pritzker, he said, has the financial wherewithal to do something most candidates couldn’t: announce a presidential bid in 2026 and lock down the best available campaign staff talent.

Pritzker has never shied from confronting Trump. “Take it from an actual billionaire, Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity,” he said in his Democratic National Convention speech in August.

Trump’s estimated net worth has grown significantly since 2024, according to Forbes, boosted by his socialmedia platform and cryptocurrency. He is now the nation’s wealthiest elected official.

The president and Elon Musk, Trump’s adviser and the world’s richest man, have thrown punches at Pritzker as well. Both have mocked his weight, with Trump suggesting last year the Illinois governor “wants to eat all the time.”

If Pritzker runs, Republicans will be certain to highlight the challenges Illinois faces. Private-sector jobs have been stagnant since he took office, and a massive unfunded pension liability hangs over the state like a black cloud. Taxes are among the highest in the nation, and the state’s population has shrunk since 2020. Violent crime and struggling schools plague Chicago, a favorite target for Trump and conservatives.

“People are voting with their feet,” said Paul Vallas, a conservative-leaning Democrat who is a former Chicago public-schools chief and past city budget director. “The state is an absolute disaster.”

Pritzker took over in 2019 amid a budget crisis. He has supported Illinois legislation to protect abortion access, mandate paid time off for workers, raise the minimum wage to $15 for nontipped workers 18 and older, tighten gun restrictions and invest in infrastructure.

He has aggressively recruited businesses, including in quantum computing, and worked to restore some order to state budgeting, helping prompt Moody’s to raise the Illinois credit rating three times during his tenure.

Along with Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York and Tim Walz of Minnesota, Pritzker has been called to testify May 15 before a Republican-con--trolled U.S. House committee reviewing undocumented immigrant “sanctuary” status in states. The Democrats haven’t agreed to appear.

Other Democrats being watched for presidential ambitions include former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and at least five governors: Walz, Gavin Newsom of California, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Andy Beshear of Kentucky.

With Democrats divided over the war in Gaza, Daley said Pritzker, who is Jewish and running a state with a large Palestinian population, should likely expect protests at potential presidential campaign events.

Pritzker’s fortune has allowed him more independence than most politicians because he doesn’t have to worry about fundraising. With an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion, he spent more than $300 million to self-fund two gubernatorial campaigns.

The Illinois governor was his party’s second-biggest donor in this month’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election, based on disclosure filings so far. He has long been one of America’s top campaign contributors, helping him make political friends nationwide.

The foundation the governor started with his wife in 2001 gave away more than $50 million in 2023, the most recent tax records available show, with donations coast to coast that include a focus on early childhood development.

Anne Caprara, Pritzker’s chief of staff, said he is “deeply analytical” from his work as a venture capitalist and businessman. But, she said, he often tells business leaders “you can’t run government like business” because they have very different goals.

While he grew up in privilege in California, Pritzker hasn’t had an entirely easy life. As a 7-year-old, his 39-year-old father died while playing tennis in Hawaii. His mother, an alcoholic and Democratic activist, was killed a decade later when after driving drunk she jumped from a moving tow truck after her car broke down.

In 2023, as Pritzker ramped up his national political profile, he established a nonprofit called Think Big America with a stated mission of expanding reproductive rights.