Scott serves as president of Chai Trust Company, LLC, the private trust company for the Zell family. Chai has two primary divisions: Equity Group Investments (EGI) and the Zell Family Office (ZFO). EGI focuses on direct investing in privately held companies across a variety of industries. ZFO focuses on being a family-focused office that manages the family’s financial capital and supports its learning and human capital development.
Scott serves on the boards of companies in which the Zell family has significant interests, including Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS), a leading REIT owner of manufactured housing and recreational vehicle properties, and Equity International, Inc., a private investment firm focused on building real estate businesses in emerging markets. He was also a director on the board of Anixter International Inc., a leading global provider of communications, security, and wire and cable products, which was sold in 2020 for $4.5 billion.
He has also been involved in entrepreneurship-related philanthropic ventures sponsored by the Zell Family Foundation, including the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, the Zell Fellows Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and the Zell Entrepreneurship Program at Reichman University in Israel. In addition, he writes about family enterprise and generational Wealth.
Scott holds a JD degree from Harvard Law School, a master’s in finance from the University of Colorado Boulder – Leeds School of Business, and a BA from Cornell University.
