Barry Sternlicht
Chairman & CEO, Starwood Capital Group
Barry Sternlicht is Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Capital Group, the private investment firm he formed in 1991 focused on global real estate, energy, infrastructure and securities trading. Sternlicht is also Chairman of Starwood Property Trust, now the largest commercial mortgage REIT in the U.S. traded on the NYSE. Sternlicht is also Chairman of the Board of Societe´ du Louvre. For the past twenty-one years, he has structured investment transactions with an asset value of more than $40 billion. Starwood's funds have invested in more than 18,000 apartment units, more than 1000 hotels, over 22 million square feet of office properties, 15 million square feet of retail and over 20,000 acres of land in residential subdivisions. Today the firm manages approximately $12 billion of investor capital on behalf of its high net worth and institutional partners. Starwood Capital Group employs approximately 160 associates at its headquarters in Greenwich, Connecticut, and other offices in Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington DC, London, Mumbai, Sao Paolo, Paris and Luxembourg. Starwood Capital Group has formed Starwood Energy Partners focusing on energy investments. Starwood’s family of products includes Starwood Real Estate Securities hedge fund. Starwood also owns an interest in Troon Golf.
From 1995 through early 2005, Sternlicht was Chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., a company he founded in 1995. Starwood Hotels employed over 120,000 people and is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 895 properties in 100 countries. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchiser of hotels with nine brands, including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Sheraton, Westin, Meridien, Four Points, as well as a premier participant in vacation ownership resorts. Barry Sternlicht has been credited as a dynamic and innovative hotel leader, creating new products and programs with immediate global appeal. Sternlicht created W Hotels, perhaps the world’s most successful “boutique” brand.
In 2010, Sternlicht was named Executive of the Year and Investor of the Year by Commercial Property Executive. In 2005, Sternlicht was named America’s Best Lodging CEO by Institutional Investor magazine. Sternlicht was inducted into the Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame. He holds an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration in Hospitality Management from Johnson & Wales University. He also received the Preston Robert Tisch Distinguished Industry Leadership Award from New York University School for Hospitality, Tourism & Travel Administration, the CEO Diversity Award by Diversity Best Practices/Business Women’s Network, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Travel Marketing Executives, the Hospitality Heritage Award from the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and the Marketer of the Year Award from Brandweek. Sternlicht’s humanitarian efforts have led to prestigious national honors such as JDRF’s Man of the Year, JDRF’s Living and Giving Award and JDRF’s Chairman’s Award.
Sternlicht is a trustee of his alma mater, Brown University. He serves on the Board of Directors of The Estée Lauder Companies, National Golf, Mammoth Mountain, Ellen Tracy, Field & Stream, the National Advisory Board of JP Morgan Chase, and the International Advisory Board of Eurohypo Bank. He serves as Vice Chairman of Robin Hood and is on the boards of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), the Dreamland Theatre, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s National Leadership Advocacy Program, and the Business Committee for the Arts. He is a member of the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy, the Young Presidents Organization, and the Urban Land Institute.
Barry Sternlicht was born in 1960. He received his BA, magna cum laude, with honors from Brown University. He later earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
