Ben Weprin

Ben Weprin (born June 28, 1978) is the founder and CEO of AJ Capital Partners, a private real estate company based in Chicago, Illinois.

Weprin was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. In 2001, Weprin graduated from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and went on to earn his MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

In 2008, Weprin founded AJ Capital Partners. Its strategy was to build a portfolio of hotels, resorts and other luxury properties. Its projects have included restorations of existing hotels and development of new properties, many of them located in Chicago. The company’s first investment was in the California-based luxury hotel and resort management company, Auberge Resorts. AJ Capital Partners’ past portfolio includes Isle De France in Saint Barth, sold to LVMH in 2013, The Raleigh in South Beach, Florida sold in 2012 and Hotel Lincoln in Chicago sold in 2015. Weprin’s operating portfolio includes community-based assets which AJ Capital Partners restored and reopened including Chicago Athletic Association and Soho House Chicago, both in his hometown, Malliouhana Hotel & Spa in Anguilla and The Pontchartrain Hotel in New Orleans’ Garden District. Also in his operating portfolio are Calistoga Ranch in Napa Valley, California, WeWork Fulton Market in Chicago, Illinois, Thompson Chicago and Thompson Nashville.

In 2014, Weprin announced the launch of AJ Capital Partners’ proprietary brand, Graduate Hotels, a collection of boutique hotels in university-anchored markets. As of 2016, the brand has hotels open and operating in Athens, Georgia; Tempe, Arizona; Madison, Wisconsin; Charlottesville, Virginia; Oxford, Mississippi; and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Graduate Hotels plans to expand their portfolio to Richmond, Virginia; Berkeley, California; and Lincoln, Nebraska during 2017.

• Fast Company The Most Innovative Companies of 2016 – AJ Capital Partners
• Urban Land Institute Chicago’s Catalytic Redevelopment – Chicago Athletic Association
• Urban Land Institute Chicago’s Catalytic Redevelopment – Soho House Chicago
• James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant Design Finalist – Cherry Circle Room – Chicago Athletic Association
• James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant Design Finalist – Cindy’s – Chicago Athletic Association
• National Trust for Historic Preservation Driehaus Preservation Award – Chicago Athletic Association
• University of Tennessee – Knoxville Promise Award

• Wilson, Mark (September 2, 2014). "Relive The Glory Of Your College Years With School-Themed $500M Boutique Hotel Chain". Fast Company. 
• ^ "Twelve projects and programs, 1 young visionary named winners of ULI Chicago's 2016 Vision Awards". REJournals.com. June 3, 2016. 
• ^ Stone, Brian (April 1, 2016). "Take a Look Inside the 2016 James Beard Award Nominees for Restaurant Design". Architectural Digest. 
• "3 Structures To Get Landmark Awards". NBCChicago.com. September 11, 2015. 
• "Alumni Honored at Annual Awards Dinner". The University of Tennessee - Knoxville. September 20, 2016. 

In 2005, Weprin married Mary Ann Mounger in an interfaith Presbyterian and Judaism ceremony on a farm in Columbia, Tennessee. The couple has three daughters.c