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Conversations From the Corner Office
BIO
Marriott International Inc. Chairman and CEO Bill Marriott
J.W. "Bill" Marriott was born in 1932, five years after his father, John Willard Marriott, founded the business that would eventually bear his name and become one of the world's largest lodging companies.
At the time of Marriot's birth, his father operated family-style restaurants in the Washington, D.C., area called Hot Shoppes. Hotels were not part of the family business.
Marriott grew up hearing stories about his father's insistence on quality service and employee loyalty and saw those corporate philosophies in action first-hand while working a variety of jobs in his father's business.
He supplemented his on-the-job learning with academics at the University of Utah, where he earned a degree in banking and finance. He later joined the Navy and became an officer before returning to civilian life.
Marriott formally joined the company in 1956, and a year later he took over management of its first "motor hotel."
In 1964, Marriott was named president of the company, a position he occupied for eight years before taking the reins from his father as CEO.
Under his leadership, Marriott International has grown from a restaurant and food service business to a global lodging company with more than 2,800 properties in nearly 67 countries.
At the same time, Marriott has pursued an aggressive growth strategy that shifted the company's focus from hotel ownership to management and franchising. The move has reduced the company's debt load and tax liability and provided it with steady revenue even in economic downturns.
Marriott continues to adhere to his father's standards of quality service, visiting 300 hotels a year. And he honors the elder Marriott's commitment to employees, tailoring benefits packages and training programs to retain and reward good workers.
He is active in a number of nonprofit organizations including the United States Naval Academy Foundation and the National Geographic Society. He is also an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
As a boy, Marriott reached the level of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts and was later honored with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.
RELATED LINKS
CHAIRMAN AND CEO BILL MARRIOTT
Marriott International Inc. history
WEBSITE: Marriott International Inc.
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