John Willard “Bill” Marriott Jr. (born March 25, 1932) is an American billionaire businessman who is the executive chairman of Marriott International, of which he owns 11.28%.
Website: https://www.marriott.com/culture-and-values/jw-marriott-jr.mi
What is Bill Marriott, Jr.’s net worth?
Bill Marriott, Jr. is an American businessman who has a net worth of $2.5 billion. That net worth makes him one of the richest people in Maryland. Bill Marriott, Jr. earned his fortune as an heir to Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel company. As the Chairman and former CEO of the company, Marriott helped transform the business into a hospitality empire with more than 7,600 properties in over 130 countries and territories. Bill owns a little over 11% of Marriott’s outstanding equity as of this writing. The company was started by his father John Willard Marriott as a root beer stand in Washington, D.C., in 1927. Bill joined the company in 1954 when it was mostly a restaurant and catering business. Under Bill’s direction, the company expanded dramatically into hotels around the world. Bill Marriott stepped down as CEO from the company in 2012.
Net Worth: $2.5 Billion
Date of Birth: Mar 25, 1932 (91 years old)
Place of Birth: Washington, D.C.
Gender: Male
Profession: Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Nationality: United States of America
Career
Marriott joined Marriott Corporation in 1956. He pushed his father, who was wary of taking on debt after experiencing the Great Depression, to expand from the restaurant business into the hotel business.
Marriott was elected executive vice president and member of the board of directors in January 1964, president of the company in November 1964, chief executive officer in 1972, and chairman of the board in 1985. He introduced the practice of revenue management to the hotel industry.
Effective March 31, 2012, Marriott assumed the role of executive chairman of the company and relinquished the role of chief executive officer to Arne Sorenson.
Awards
In 2001, Marriott was recognized as The Industry Leader of The Year by Broad College of Business, Michigan State University
On May 4, 2006, Marriott received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Weber State University and delivered the commencement speech.
On April 2, 2008, Marriott received the International Association of Business Communicators’ Excellence in Communication Leadership Award.
On June 2, 2009, Marriott received the Icon of the Industry award from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
In 2010, Marriott received the Foreign Language Advocacy Award from the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in recognition of programs that provided language instruction to both non-English speaking and English speaking employees.
On November 19, 2016, Ernst & Young named Marriott the National/Overall Entrepreneur of the Year.
In 2018, Marriott received the Distinguished Service Award by the National Maritime Historical Society.
Personal life
Marriott has been married to Donna Garff for over 61 years and they have four children, all of whom work for Marriott International, fifteen grandchildren, and twenty great-grandchildren. They raised their kids in a brick ranch-style house in Bethesda, Maryland.
In an episode of 60 Minutes aired on April 7, 1996, Marriott was interviewed by Mike Wallace.
In 2018, Bill’s son John Marriott III sued both him and his uncle, Richard Marriott, for allegedly cutting John out of the family fortune, in part for divorcing his wife without approval of his father. The lawsuit was settled out of court.
Religion
Marriott is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since 1978, the Marriotts have been supporters of the annual Festival of Lights on the grounds of the Washington D.C. Temple. In 1997, Marriott was called by the church to be an Area Authority Seventy and member of the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy.[19] This was split in 2004 and Marriott joined the newly-created Sixth Quorum of the Seventy, serving until his release on October 1, 2011.
Boards
Marriott is actively involved in various boards and councils including, the U.S. Travel and Tourism Promotional Advisory Board, the executive committee of the World Travel and Tourism Council, the National Business Council, the board of trustees of the National Urban League, a director of the National Geographic Society, and a director of the Naval Academy Endowment Trust. He serves as chairman of the President’s Export Council, a group that advises the president on matters relating to export trade, and serves as chairman of the Leadership Council of the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries.
Bibliography
- Without Reservations: How a Family Root Beer Stand Grew into a Global Hotel Company Luxury Custom Publishing LLC, May 1, 2013
