Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide founder Barry Sternlicht will resign as executive chairman and from the company’s board of directors to spend more time with his family and grow his investment firm.
Sternlicht said he had fulfilled his commitment to stay on board through a transition period after initiating the search to find his replacement as CEO. Steven Heyer replaced Sternlicht as CEO in October 2004.
Sternlicht said he plans to spend focus his attention on Starwood Capital, a Greenwich, CT-based real estate investment and private equity firm he founded with more than $5 billion under management. Sternlicht will assume the title of Starwood founder and chairman emeritus.
During Sternlicht’s tenure as CEO, which began in 1995, Starwood grew from a company with less than $10 million into the world’s largest hotel company, with an enterprise value of more than $15 billion. Sternlicht is credited with the firm’s rapid growth and the addition of Westin Hotels and ITT Sheraton and the acquisition and expansion of Vistana, now Starwood Vacation Ownership.
“I could not be more proud of the success of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which grew from a nearly bankrupt REIT to the well respected global giant it is today,” Sternlicht said in a statement. “I remain committed to the company emotionally, spiritually and financially.”
Lizanne Galbreath has been elected as a director to fill the vacancy created by Sternlicht’s resignation. Bruce W. Duncan, a current director, has been tapped as chairman of the board.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has about 750 properties in more than 80 countries. The corporation operates St Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton and W hotels and resorts.
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