SPRINGFIELD, In poor health. (AP) — It figures {that a} billionaire would win huge in Las Vegas.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker reported a playing windfall of $1.4 million on his federal tax return this week.
The 2-term Democrat, usually talked about as a 2028 presidential candidate, informed reporters in Chicago on Thursday that he drew charmed fingers in blackjack throughout a trip with first woman MK Pritzker and associates in Sin Metropolis.
“I was incredibly lucky,” he stated. “You have to be to end up ahead, frankly, going to a casino anywhere.”
Pritzker, an inheritor to the Hyatt lodge chain, has a internet value of $3.9 billion, tied for No. 382 on the Forbes 400 record of the nation’s richest individuals. A marketing campaign spokesperson stated through e mail that Pritzker deliberate to donate the cash to charity however didn’t reply when requested why he hadn’t already accomplished so.
Pritzker, who intends to hunt a 3rd time period in 2026, was into account as a vice presidential operating mate to Kamala Harris final 12 months. He has deflected questions on any ambition past the Illinois governor’s mansion. However he has used his private wealth to fund different Democrats and associated efforts, together with a marketing campaign to guard entry to abortion.
His profile has gotten an extra bump this fall as he condemns President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement within the Chicago space and the president’s try to deploy Nationwide Guard troops there.
The Pritzkers reported earnings of $10.66 million in 2024, principally from dividends and capital positive factors. They paid $1.6 million in taxes on taxable earnings of $5.87 million.
Pritzker is an avid card participant whose charitable Chicago Poker Problem has raised tens of millions of {dollars} for the Holocaust Museum and Schooling Middle. The Vegas windfall was a “internet quantity” given wins and losses on one journey, he stated. He declined to say what his profitable hand was.
“Anybody who’s played cards in a casino, you often play for too long and lose whatever it is you won,” Pritzker stated. “I was fortunate enough to have to leave before that happened.”
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Related Press author Sophia Tareen contributed from Chicago.
