Zell Cuts Back on Real Estate

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Famed investor Sam Zell, known for buying real estate at the bottom of the market, had cut back on his real estate holdings.

Only 30 percent of Mr. Zell's personal investment portfolio is in real estate, compared to 50 percent in the 1990s.

"We're dealing with a world that's dramatically more volatile, and that requires more caution and care than before," Mr. Zell told the Wall Street Journal. "I'm not singing 'Kumbaya' like other people."

Mr. Zell was one of the biggest investors in U.S. real estate in the '90s and early part of the century. In 2007, before the market collapse, he sold Equity Office Properties Trust to Blackstone Group for a record $39 billion.

But Mr. Zell has not been as active in U.S. commercial property in the wake of the market collapse in 2008. Instead he has shifted to natural gas, international real estate deals in emerging-market countries including Colombia and India, and a distressed-debt fund.

"You shouldn't misinterpret caution with inaction," he told the Journal.

Mr. Zell has missed a run-up in U.S. commercial property in recent years.

"I wish I was perfect," he told the Journal. "I would have made a fortune when the market went down."

Video: Sam Zell Skeptical of Real Estate