Chai Trust Company

What Chai Trust Company does

Chai Trust Company is an Illinois-chartered private trust company, headquartered in Chicago, that manages the assets and interests of Sam Zell and his family. The company is organized into two wholly owned divisions: Equity Group Investments (EGI), the private investment firm Sam Zell founded in 1968, which makes direct investments in privately held companies across diverse industries; and the Zell Family Office (ZFO), which provides comprehensive family-focused services spanning the Zell family's financial and personal well-being. Effective ownership and control sit with Sam Zell as the individual founder-owner, with no external institutional shareholders identified in the source material.

Operationally, Chai Trust is a single-family vehicle with no external distribution: it has no traditional marketing or sales channels, does not publicly disclose pricing or fee schedules, and explicitly restricts its geographic focus to the United States. Headcount is approximately 14 employees, suggesting a lean internal team that relies on third-party service providers (e.g., Paylocity for HR) and likely outsources substantial investment-administration and operational work. The company's public web presence is minimal and oriented around privacy, terms of use, and informational disclosures rather than customer acquisition, consistent with a fiduciary structure serving a single principal family.

Chai Trust's economic engine derives from two sources: investment-related income generated through EGI's direct private-investing activity across multiple industries, and fees or reimbursements associated with managing family wealth and providing family-office services through ZFO. No revenue, AUM, or fee figures are disclosed. The Privacy Policy was last updated on April 21, 2025, and the company is described as actively operating; there is no indication of a public listing, ticker, or exchange reference.

Name

Chai Trust Company

Legal name

Chai Trust Company

Website

https://chaitrust.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Chai Trust Company is an Illinois-chartered private trust company managing the assets and interests of Sam Zell and his family through two divisions: Equity Group Investments (EGI), a direct private investment firm founded in 1968, and the Zell Family Office (ZFO), which provides comprehensive family-focused financial and well-being services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Trust & Family Office Services

NAICS

Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (525920), Trust, Fiduciary, and Custody Activities (523991), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Trust & Fiduciary Advisory for HNW/UHNW (Trust Structuring & Trustee Oversight) (FSAAABAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Family Office Investment Platforms & Direct Investing (PE/VC/Co-Invest) (FSAAADAH), Family Office Trust & Fiduciary Services (FSAEAKAF)

Keywords

• Private trust company
• Single family office
• Direct private investments
• Family asset management
• Wealth preservation services

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Core offering

Chai Trust Company is a private trust company that manages the assets and interests of Sam Zell and his family through two primary divisions. Equity Group Investments (EGI) is a private investment firm founded in 1968 that makes direct investments in privately held companies across diverse industries. The Zell Family Office (ZFO) is a family-focused office providing comprehensive services to support the Zell Family's health, finances, and overall well-being.

Product overview

Chai Trust is a private trust company with two primary divisions: Equity Group Investments (EGI) and the Zell Family Office (ZFO). EGI, founded in 1968, is a private investment firm specializing in direct investments in privately held companies across diverse industries. ZFO provides comprehensive family-focused services supporting the Zell Family's well-being and finances. These divisions operate as distinct sub-brands under the Chai Trust umbrella.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Equity Group Investments (EGI): Private investment firm specializing in direct investments in privately held companies across diverse industries.
• Zell Family Office (ZFO)

Products and services

• Equity Group Investments (EGI) Private investment firm that makes direct investments in privately held companies across diverse industries, serving as the investment division of Chai Trust Company.
• Zell Family Office (ZFO) Family-focused office providing comprehensive services to support the Zell Family's well-being and finances, covering health, financial, and overall well-being needs.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Fidelity Investments: Fidelity is a broad incumbent asset manager with trust, custody, and wealth management capabilities; comparable to Chai Trust's portfolio management and fiduciary functions, though it serves mass-affluent and institutional clients rather than a single UHNW family.
• Northern Trust: Northern Trust is a large incumbent financial institution with a deep trust and family office practice serving HNW and UHNW clients; comparable to Chai Trust in the trust, custody, and wealth management functions but operates as a public company serving many families rather than one.

Direct peers

• Walton Family Office: The Walton family operates private investment and philanthropic entities managing Walton family assets across diversified direct investments — a structural peer to Chai Trust in providing long-horizon, family-controlled capital allocation.
• Bessemer Trust: Bessemer Trust is a private, single-family-office-style trust company serving ultra-high-net-worth families with wealth management, investment advisory, and fiduciary services — directly comparable to Chai Trust's role as a private trust company serving the Zell family.
• Pritzker Private Capital: Pritzker Private Capital is a private investment firm associated with the Pritzker family that makes direct investments in middle-market companies — closely comparable to EGI's direct private investing model within a family-controlled structure.
• Ziff Family Office: Ziff Family Office is a private family office serving the Ziff family with investment management and family services — a direct structural peer to Chai Trust's Zell Family Office (ZFO) division.

Regional players

• Crown Family Office: Crown is a Chicago-based family-controlled investment enterprise (Henry Crown and Company) with diversified direct investments; comparable to EGI as a regional, family-controlled private investment firm, though not structured as a formal trust company.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chai-trust-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chai Trust Company