Billionaire Philanthropist Pritzker Comes Out as Transgender

The billionaire retired U.S. Army colonel James Pritzker came out as transgender Friday announcing he is a woman and will now go by the name Jennifer Natalya Pritzker.

In a company letter emailed to employees at the Pritzker Military Library and Tawani Enterprises and forwarded to Crain’s Chicago Business, the billionaire said that “As of Aug. 16, 2013, J.N. Pritzker will undergo an official legal name change, will now be known as Jennifer Natalya Pritzker. This change will reflect the beliefs of her true identity that she has held privately and will now share publicly. Pritzker now identifies herself as a woman for all business and personal undertakings.”

Jennifer Natalya Pritzker (formerly known as James Pritzker) is part of the prominent Chicago Pritzker family that founded the Marmon Group and owns the Hyatt hotel chain, the TransUnion credit agency and other businesses.

According to BuzzFeed, Pritzker’s Tawani Foundation, a charitable organization promoting citizen service through the support of ROTC programs and other grants, funded a $1.35 million “launch grant” to the Palm Center, a research organization studying sexuality in the military.

by Adrian Garcia 
thegailygrind.com|

Watch a video of Jennifer Pritzker present Sir Max Hastings the 2012 Pritzker Military Library Lifetime Achievement Award at the Library’s Liberty Gala last year: