Levy Institute
Kellogg’s Entrepreneurial Legacy
The Kellogg School of Management is grateful to Larry and Carol Levy for their generosity in the enhancement of Kellogg’s entrepreneurship program through their establishment of the Larry and Carol Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice. Their significant contribution has provided a platform by which Kellogg has expanded its programmatic offerings.
As part of Entrepreneurship at Kellogg, the Levy Institute works in tandem with like-minded centers, alumni networks, organizations across the Kellogg and Northwestern University networks and the startup community to foster entrepreneurial successes for students and alumni.
What began in 1978 as a single delicatessen in Chicago, Levy Restaurants, Larry Levy built into an empire of acclaimed restaurants, as well as an internationally-recognized food service organization in North America and Europe. Levy Restaurants disrupted sports concessions by providing restaurant-quality dining in sports and entertainment venues. From its initial start of catering the skyboxes for the Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park in 1982, the company grew to become the full food service restaurateur for more than 100 sports and entertainment venues across the globe. Throughout the company’s 38-year history, Levy Restaurants has hosted and continues to cater marquee events such as the Kentucky Derby, Major League Baseball’s World Series, the All-Star Games of MLB, NHL & NBA, NFL’s Super Bowl, the GRAMMY Awards and the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. Larry sold Levy Restaurants to the Compass Group of London in 2006 and remains Chairman Emeritus.
Larry and two of his sons, Managing Partners Ari Levy and Steven Florsheim, manage LFP’s portfolio of real estate, operating businesses, venture capital and other investments. LFP owns significant stakes in Esperanza & Chileno Bay Resorts in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a portfolio of real estate assets & Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza. The private equity and venture holdings of LFP have included investments in a diverse set of private companies, Intensity Therapeutics, Cresset Capital, Sunbit, Home Depot Supply, Lakeview Investment Group, Cameo, Nest, Rivian, Uber, Peloton and Space X.
Larry’s accomplishments also encompass real estate development and investment. Major projects include River Point, a 1.1 million-square-foot office building in partnership with Hines and Ivanhoe Cambridge; Chicago Mercantile Exchange Center, One South Dearborn in partnership with Hines; One Magnificent Mile; and Woodfield Lake Office Campus. In all, more than 10 million square feet developed. In addition, LFP has interests in Diversified Real Estate Capital, Waypoint Residential and RedHill Realty Investors, all sponsors of multiple real estate projects.
Larry serves on the boards of Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Lincoln Park Zoo, The Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He also previously served as Chairman of the Chicago Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization and the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee.
Larry received his B.S. from Northwestern University and MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.