Eric Lefkofsky Net Worth

What Is Eric Lefkofsky's Net Worth and Salary?

Eric Lefkofsky is an American entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist who has a net worth of $5 billion.

Eric Lefkofsky is best known as the co-founder of Groupon and the founder and CEO of Tempus AI, a healthcare technology company that uses artificial intelligence, genomic testing, and clinical data to help physicians make more personalized treatment decisions.

Lefkofsky is one of Chicago's most prolific technology entrepreneurs. He has helped launch several major companies, including InnerWorkings, Echo Global Logistics, MediaBank, Mediaocean, Lightbank, and Pathos AI. Four of his companies—InnerWorkings, Echo Global Logistics, Groupon, and Tempus AI—have completed initial public offerings.

Groupon produced the foundation of Lefkofsky's fortune. Before the daily-deals company went public, he and his family received approximately $398 million through stock sales. He later served as Groupon's CEO and chairman. Tempus AI eventually became another major source of his wealth. The company went public in 2024, and Lefkofsky retained a multibillion-dollar ownership position and majority voting control.

Lefkofsky's Tempus employment agreement established an annual base salary of $800,000 and a target performance bonus of $800,000. However, the overwhelming majority of his executive compensation has come through equity awards rather than cash.

Early Life

Eric Paul Lefkofsky was born on September 2, 1969, in Michigan and grew up in Southfield. His father, Bill, was a structural engineer, and his mother, Sandy, was a teacher.

Eric graduated from Southfield-Lathrup High School before enrolling at the University of Michigan. He earned his bachelor's degree with honors in 1991 and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1993. Rather than pursuing a conventional legal career, he entered business with his longtime friend and future partner Brad Keywell.

Early Business Ventures

After law school, Lefkofsky and Keywell borrowed money from relatives to acquire Brandon Apparel, a clothing company based in Wisconsin. The business struggled, but the experience began a partnership that would produce several technology companies over the following decades.

In 1999, Lefkofsky and Keywell founded Starbelly, an internet-based promotional products company. Starbelly was acquired by Ha-Lo Industries in 2000, and Lefkofsky became Ha-Lo's chief operating officer.

Lefkofsky co-founded InnerWorkings in 2001. The company used technology to manage printing and promotional material orders for corporate clients. InnerWorkings went public in 2006, becoming one of Chicago's first significant technology IPOs in years.

He and Keywell subsequently co-founded Echo Global Logistics, a technology-enabled transportation and freight management company. Echo completed its IPO in 2009 and was acquired by private equity firm The Jordan Company for approximately $1.3 billion in 2021.

Lefkofsky also co-founded MediaBank, which developed software used by advertising agencies to plan and purchase media. MediaBank merged with Donovan Data Systems to create Mediaocean in 2012. The combined company was valued at approximately $1.5 billion at the time of the merger.

Groupon

In 2007, Lefkofsky provided $1 million in early funding to The Point, an online collective-action platform created by Andrew Mason. The original concept struggled to attract a large audience, but one part of the service—organizing groups of consumers around local discounts—showed promise.

The business pivoted and became Groupon in 2008. Groupon expanded rapidly by emailing subscribers daily offers from restaurants, retailers, spas, and other local businesses. Within a few years, it had operations around the world and had become one of the fastest-growing internet companies in history.

Google offered to acquire Groupon for approximately $6 billion in 2010, but the company rejected the offer. Groupon instead went public in 2011 in one of the largest American internet IPOs of its era.

Lefkofsky served as Groupon's executive chairman before becoming interim co-CEO in 2013. He was named permanent CEO later that year and remained in the position until 2015. He subsequently served as chairman until 2020 and stayed on the company's board through 2023.

Scott Olson/ Getty Images

Tempus AI

Lefkofsky founded Tempus in 2015 after his wife underwent treatment for breast cancer. During that experience, he became frustrated by how difficult it was for physicians to access and analyze the enormous amounts of clinical, genomic, and treatment data generated throughout the healthcare system.

Tempus was created to organize that information and make it useful to doctors and researchers. The company initially concentrated on cancer, using genomic sequencing and artificial intelligence to help identify treatments suited to individual patients. It later expanded into additional medical fields and began supplying data and analytical services to hospitals, biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Renamed Tempus AI, the company completed its Nasdaq IPO in June 2024. Lefkofsky remained its CEO and controlling shareholder. A 2026 proxy filing credited him with beneficial ownership of more than 42 million shares, representing roughly 24% of the company's common stock. Through Tempus's dual-class share structure, he controlled approximately 58% of its voting power.

Lefkofsky also co-founded Pathos AI, which applies artificial intelligence and data analysis to drug development.

Tempus Salary and Stock Awards

Lefkofsky did not receive a Tempus base salary in 2024. His employment agreement provided for an $800,000 annual salary beginning in 2025, along with a target bonus equal to 100% of his salary.

Tempus listed his total 2025 compensation at approximately $41.5 million. Nearly $40 million of that amount represented the grant-date accounting value of performance-based stock awards, not cash paid to him during the year. The ultimate value of those awards depends on vesting requirements, company performance, and Tempus's share price.

Real Estate

In January 2015, Eric paid $19.5 million for a lakefront 16,000-square-foot mansion in the Chicago suburb of Glencoe. The property sits on 4 acres.

In September 2018, Eric paid $31 million for a penthouse at the Miami Four Seasons.

In December 2020, Eric bought a mansion on 9 acres in Montecito, California, for $33 million. The sellers were Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi.

Philanthropy and Personal Life

Eric married Elizabeth "Liz" Kramer in 1997, and they have three children. Their daughter, Stella Lefkofsky, has become a popular singer-songwriter under the stage name Stella Lefty. After building an audience online, Stella achieved a major breakthrough in 2026 with her country-pop single "Boston," which went viral and reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. She also released the EP "Is This Heaven?"

Eric and Liz created the Lefkofsky Family Foundation in 2006. Its grants support medical research, education, human rights, cultural organizations, and community programs.

The couple signed the Giving Pledge in 2013, committing to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. Lefkofsky has also held leadership or trustee positions with organizations including the Art Institute of Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Lurie Children's Hospital, and Northwestern Medicine.

He has taught entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago and previously taught at Northwestern University and DePaul University. In 2007, he published the business book "Accelerated Disruption," which examines how entrepreneurs can use technology to build and protect rapidly growing companies.

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