The #MeToo movement has come for so many old familiar names that we almost forget to remember who it hasn't come for, until it does. Sam Zell knows what we're talking about: Real estate investor Sam Zell, asked at a conference Wednesday about gender diversity and the #MeToo movement, said he has promoted women based on merit. Oh? Well, that's nice... “I never promoted a woman because she was a woman. I never demoted a woman because she was a woman. My issue is what do you do, what do you produce, how do you interrelate to the rest of the business,” Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments Inc., said at the REITweek investor conference in Manhattan. That's right, you toxic masculines, everyone's favorite Keebler Elf turned real estate billionaire is a woke-ass bro! He doesn't see gender, just talent. And we're relieved to hear it because we kind of assumed that Sam Zell would inevitably say something really crazy when it came to this whole topic... “I don’t think there’s ever been a, ‘We gotta get more p---- on the block, OK?’” Zell, 76, added, eliciting gasps and laughter from the hundreds at the gathering. Yup, there it is... “Those things can get me in trouble, right?” Zell said. Can a bear get in trouble for shitting in the woods, Sam? Well, it can if it talks about "pussy" in terms of volume while wiping its ass and discussing gender equity in the modern workplace. But you be you. Zell Uses Vulgarity While Saying That He Promotes Women on Merit [Bloomberg]<doc-sep>Property magnate Sam Zell at a conference Wednesday used a lewd remark to refer to women in arguing he promotes people on merit and not gender, drawing laughter from some in the audience but prompting the event’s organizer to condemn the comment. The founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments made the remark in a panel interview at the Nareit real-estate investment conference in New York, in response to a question about workplace diversity and the #MeToo movement. “I never promoted a woman because she is a woman. I never demoted a woman because she is a woman. My issue is what you do, what do you produce and how do you interrelate to the rest of the business,” Mr. Zell said. “I don’t think there’s ever been a, ‘We gotta get more pussy on the block.’ ” Some in the audience in the ballroom at the Hilton Hotel laughed. The 76-year-old, who is known for his outlandish remarks over the years, subsequently said he could get into trouble for using crude language, then added that at his age, he could get away with some things. “I could ask Steve Wynn, ” he said, eliciting more laughter from the audience. Mr. Wynn, 76, has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, accusations he has rejected. He subsequently resigned as chairman and CEO from the company he founded Wynn Resorts Ltd. and sold his entire 12% stake in it. Mr. Zell in his remarks said he has worked with competent women. Several women hold senior executive positions at Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc., including its chief executive, Marguerite Nader and director Constance Freedman. “We don’t condone the use of that language,” said Ronald Kuykendall, a spokesman for Nareit, the organizer of the conference. A spokeswoman at Equity International Group didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Some people leaving the luncheon interview said that they weren’t surprised by the remarks given Mr. Zell’s reputation and added that they were dismayed. Mr. Zell’s career in real estate spans a half-century. He earned the sobriquet of the “grave dancer” buying distressed real estate in the early 1990s. He profited handsomely from those deals. In 2007, he sold Equity Office Properties for $39 billion in the largest-ever leveraged buyout at the time. Since then, Mr. Zell has become a prominent investor in property in emerging markets. He also is a major shareholder and chairman of Equity Residential, one of the largest publicly traded landlords of rental apartments. Mr. Zell has had less success outside the real-estate market. In 2007, for example, he bought Tribune Co. for $8.2 billion. The media company filed for bankruptcy protection one year later. Write to Esther Fung at esther.fung@wsj.com<doc-sep>One prominent real estate investor shocked some audience members at a conference on Wednesday when he used vulgar language to describe how he works with and promotes women within the industry. "I never promoted a woman because she was a woman," Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments, said at the REITweek investor conference hosted by Nareit in New York. "I never demoted a woman because she was a woman. My issue is what do you do, what do you produce, how do you interrelate to the rest of the business," he went on. "I don't think there's ever been a, 'We gotta get more p---- on the block, OK?'" Zell said. There weren't many laughs, the audience got "very silent," and there was "quite a bit of shock," according to Edward Jones real estate investment trust analyst Matt Kopsky, who was in attendance when Zell's comments were made.<doc-sep>
When Sam Zell was asked Wednesday about the highly charged topic of gender diversity and the #MeToo movement, he responded in a way that only Sam Zell would. The chairman of Equity Group Investments said he had promoted women based on merit. “I never promoted a woman because she was a woman. I never demoted a woman because she was a woman. My issue is what do you do, what do you produce, how do you interrelate to the rest of the business,” he said at the REITweek investor conference. He then added: “I don’t think there’s ever been a, ‘We gotta get more pussy on the block, OK?’” The audience, Bloomberg reported, reacted with gasps and laughter. As if sensing how his comment would be received, the 76-year-old then said: “Those things can get me in trouble, right?” “If I said that, I’d be in more trouble,” Steven Wechsler, CEO of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and the conference’s organizer, replied. According to Bloomberg, Zell’s Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc. has a female CEO, Marguerite Nader. And Debra Cafaro, CEO of Ventas Inc., has said Zell has encouraged her throughout her career. Zell has a reputation, however, for being irreverent, frequently peppering his speech with profanity and politically-incorrect statements. During a television interview in March, Zell mentioned offhandedly that “all women are good looking.” He was also thrust into controversy – though not of his own doing – during a panel in September 2016, when his interviewer, Peter Linneman, made racist remarks about Chinese men while the two were onstage. Real estate hasn’t been immune to the #MeToo movement, which has rocked the entertainment and media industries. The Real Deal examined the gender gap in real estate in a cover story in January 2018. [Bloomberg] — E.B. Solomont