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What is JB Pritzker's net worth? Illinois governor's tax returns reveal he won $1.4M from gambling during a Las Vegas trip last year

The Illinois governor has just made a revelation about winning a massive amount of money through gambling last year.
posted by Akanksha Mishra
Friday 10/17/2025 at 8:44AM EDT
  • CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 03: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to the press following a visit to Metropolitan Peace Academy on September 03, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. The Metropolitan Peace Academy was training violence intervention leaders on how to respond to the anticipated National Guard and federal agent deployment to Chicago. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
    CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 03: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to the press following a visit to Metropolitan Peace Academy on September 03, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. The Metropolitan Peace Academy was training violence intervention leaders on how to respond to the anticipated National Guard and federal agent deployment to Chicago. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

    On Thursday, October 17, JB Pritzker - the governor of Illinois - revealed at a press conference that he had won about $1.4 million from gambling on cards last year. Pritzker shared that he made the earnings in Las Vegas, where he was on a vacation with his wife and friends.

    A day after the income tax returns of his gubernatorial campaign's federal income was release, JB Pritzker told reporters:

    "I was incredibly lucky... You have to be, to end up ahead, frankly, going to a casino anywhere. It was in Las Vegas, and I like to play cards."

    While Pritzker didn't reveal the name of the card game at which he won the massive amount, NBC news reportedly learned from his campaign that it was blackjack. They also mentioned that the governor is planning to donate his earnings.

    According to Forbes, JB Pritzker has an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion. Before he defeated the Republican Bruce Rauner in the running for Illinois' governor in 2018, Pritzker ran a private equity firm - Pritzker Group - alongside his brother, Anthony Pritzker. 

    His sister, Penny Pritzker, is also a billionaire like him. Penny was the commerce secretary for the country under Barack Obama between 2013 and 2017. 

    Pritzker is also an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, which was founded by his uncle, Jay Pritzker, and managed and developed by his father, Donald Pritzker. 

    JB Pritzker believes Donald Trump has a "diminished capacity"

    The revelation about JB Pritzker's massive earnings at Las Vegas gambling last year comes as the governor spoke about Donald Trump and his immigration operations. 

    Pritzker appeared on Tim Miller's The Bulwark podcast on Thursday, October 16, where he suggested that it was Stephen Miller - the deputy chief of staff at the White House - who was enabling the President in his aggressive measures against the illegal immigrants in the country. 

    Pritzker said:

    "I do think he needs help. And I don’t think anybody around him on a day-to-day basis wants to get him any help because they have more power based upon his diminished capacity."

    The Illinois governor then went on to accuse Miller of nudging Trump on the path of "an authoritarian leader," adding:

    "And I wish that, you know, people could at least recognize that Stephen Miller is bad for the country, and he is abusing the fact that Donald Trump has diminished capacity."

    Pritzker's criticism of Trump has visibly grown in recent weeks, after the President deployed his National Guard troops in several parts of Illinois, including Chicago. In fact, Trump also suggested that the governor should be imprisoned, alongside Brandon Johnson - the mayor of Chicago - last week. 

    TOPICS: JB Pritzker


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