Overview
- At a Thursday press conference, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker confirmed he won the money playing blackjack in Las Vegas during a single trip with his wife and friends, calling the gains a net figure and saying he was “incredibly lucky.”
- His campaign said the $1.425 million in gambling winnings will be donated to charity, without naming beneficiaries or a timeline.
- Pritzker’s campaign-released 2024 tax summaries show adjusted gross income near $10.7 million, including about $4.2 million in capital gains, $3.9 million in dividends and more than $800,000 in taxable interest, up sharply from 2023.
- The release did not include full federal and state returns or detailed trust documents; the campaign said trusts benefiting him paid roughly $30.2 million in federal taxes and $4.5 million in Illinois taxes.
- Pritzker, who does not take a governor’s salary and says his assets are in a blind trust, previously signed 2019 legislation that broadened gambling in Illinois, a backdrop fueling the political optics of the casino windfall.