BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE MILO PINKERTON SUCCEEDED IN REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT AND GIVES BACK TO WSB TO HELP BUSINESS BADGERS FORGE THEIR PATH BY JANE BURNS | PHOTOS BY PAUL L. NEWBY II
When Milo Pinkerton (MS ’79) was 3 years old, he sneaked off on an adventure. It wasn’t anywhere exotic, not like the places he’d visit as an adult. But it set the tone for a life of curiosity and constant motion. Pinkerton’s dad, Hulbert “Hub” Pinkerton (BA ’47, JD ’50), owned and managed apartment buildings in Madison. As Hub worked on one of the buildings, he stepped away for a moment only to see that his young son had climbed up the ladder and was walking along a ledge outside the secondfloor railing. “My dad said, ‘Don’t move! I’ll be right there!’” says Milo Pinkerton, who has been in that building in the years since and knows firsthand how treacherous his trek was. “My dad thought he better keep a closer eye on me after that.” Pinkerton has been on the move ever since. A busy real estate developer and philanthropist, Pinkerton is now president and founder of MSP Real Estate Inc., a construction and development company, and Heritage Senior Living, an assisted living/memory-care management company. “It’s been an evolution that wasn’t planned,” Pinkerton says of his career, reflecting on its twists and turns. Even so, it’s an evolution that has made sense for him.
WORKING AT HIS FATHER’S SIDE
Working with property has always been a focus for the Pinkerton family. His grandfather, George Schoblaska, was a contractor and real estate developer in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Hub Pinkerton was an attorney and then worked in the revenue department for the state of Wisconsin. His real estate portfolio consisted of four 1910-era properties where he took care of reconstruction and repairs. That provided some early education for his son, and helped lay the groundwork for Milo’s career. TOGETHER FORWARD 2019
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