Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson dies right after battle with most cancers

Arne Sorenson, who turned Marriott Worldwide into the world’s major resort chain immediately after buying Starwood Motels & Resorts in a $13 billion deal in 2016, has died. He was 62 and had been going through treatment method for pancreatic cancer, the corporation declared Tuesday.

Sorenson, the 3rd CEO in Marriott’s record and the 1st exterior the founding family, died Monday, the organization reported.

Sorenson expanded Marriott’s existence around the globe under dozens of manufacturers, like W Resorts, Ritz-Carlton, Courtyard and Sheraton.

In the previous yr, he had to guide the business enterprise by way of the Covid pandemic, which has introduced most world and domestic vacation to a standstill.

Sorenson, who took the CEO role in 2012, was the son of a Lutheran missionary. He was born in Japan but later on grew up in Minnesota.

He studied faith and enterprise at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, exactly where he graduated in 1980. He went on to make a law diploma at the College of Minnesota, which opened the door to much more vocation options.

Out of college, Sorenson joined the regulation business Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C. Though he was a spouse there, 1 of his purchasers was Marriott.

Bill Marriott, son of Marriott’s founder J. Willard Marriott, ending up convincing Sorenson to be part of his resort enterprise in 1996, as associate basic counsel. Later on roles involved senior vice president for business enhancement, CFO, and lastly CEO.

“Arne was an remarkable govt – but more than that – he was an outstanding human being,” reported J.W. Marriott Jr., govt chairman and chairman of the board. “Arne loved each individual facet of this enterprise and relished time invested touring our resorts and conference associates all around the environment. He had an uncanny skill to anticipate where the hospitality field was headed and posture Marriott for growth. But the roles he relished the most were as spouse, father, brother and close friend. On behalf of the Board and Marriott’s hundreds of thousands of associates all around the entire world, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Arne’s spouse and 4 young children. We share your heartbreak, and we will pass up Arne deeply.”

The resort operator had introduced in Might 2019 that Sorenson had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Previously this thirty day period, it shared the news that the CEO would be temporarily chopping again his work agenda to accommodate far more demanding treatment.

Previously this 12 months, Marriott tapped two executives – Stephanie Linnartz, team president of consumer operations, technologies and emerging firms and Tony Capuano, team president of world wide advancement, layout and functions products and services – to oversee day-to-working day functions, filling in for Sorenson.

The enterprise stated Tuesday that Linnartz and Capuano will keep on to do so right until the board appoints a new CEO, which is predicted to be inside of two months.

Marriott shares had been up fewer than 1% in premarket investing Tuesday, possessing fallen about 12% more than the earlier 12 months. The hotel operator has a market cap of virtually $42 billion.