J.W. “Bill” Marriott, Jr., the man who grew the Marriott International hotel chain to an international empire, will retire as executive chairman in May and will not stand for reelection to the board at the company’s upcoming annual meeting.
Bill Marriott, 89, has served more than 60 years in leadership at Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott. Upon his retirement, he will become chairman emeritus, and be succeeded as chairman by his son David S. Marriott.
Marriott began working at the family’s Hot Shoppes restaurant chain while in high school and college. When the company shifted to the hotel business, Marriott oversaw its first hotel, the Marriott Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, in 1957.
Today, Marriott operates nearly 8,000 properties under 30 different brands in 139 countries and territories.
He became president of the company in 1964 and chief executive officer in 1972, a position he held for 40 years before stepping down in 2012. He was elected chairman of the board in 1985.
“On behalf of the board and the hundreds of thousands of people who wear a Marriott name badge around the world, I’d like to thank Mr. Marriott for his outstanding leadership throughout his tenure with the company. He is truly an industry icon,” said Chief Executive Anthony Capuano in a statement.
David Marriott joined Marriott International in 1999 and was elected a director in 2021.
Last year, Marriott named Capuano as its chief executive officer, replacing Arne Sorenson, the first non-Marriott family member to lead the company. Sorenson died last February after a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
