Barry Stuart Sternlicht (born November 27, 1960) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

and the co-founder (with Bob Faith), chairman, and CEO of

Starwood Capital Group Starwood Capital Group is an investment firm headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida. It is managed by Barry Sternlicht. It was co-founded by Sternlicht and Robert Faith in 1991. In 1993, Faith left Starwood to found Greystar Real Estate Partn ...

, an

investment fund An investment fund is a way of investment, investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These ad ...

with over $100 billion in

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

. He is also chairman of Starwood Property Trust. He is the founder of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide and served as its Chairman and CEO from 1995 to 2005. As of May 2023, his net worth was estimated at $4.6 billion. Sternlicht is on the board of directors of the Estée Lauder Companies,

The Business Council The Business Council is a nonpartisan organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C.Real Estate Roundtable, the Robin Hood Foundation, Dreamland Community Theatre, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s National Leadership Advocacy Program. He previously served on the boards of directors of the Pension Real Estate Association, RH (company), Invitation Homes, Tri Pointe Homes, and is a past trustee of his alma mater,

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. Sternlicht's style has been described as "intense and impetuous."

Early life

Sternlicht was born in New York City in 1960 and grew up in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

. His father, Maurycy “Mark” Sternlicht, was a plant manager and a Jewish holocaust survivor from Poland His mother, Harriet, was from New York and worked as a biology teacher and stockbroker. In 1982, he graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

, from

. He then worked as an

arbitrage Arbitrage (, ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more marketsstriking a combination of matching deals to capitalize on the difference, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which th ...

trader on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

. In 1986, he received a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Career

After graduation, he went to work for JMB Realty, a real estate investment company in Chicago. In 1989, at the start of the

savings and loan crisis The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s (commonly dubbed the S&L crisis) was the failure of approximately a third of the savings and loan associations (S&Ls or thrifts) in the United States between 1986 and 1995. These thrifts were b ...

and the

early 1990s recession The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incum ...

, he was laid off. In 1991, at the age of 31, with Bob Faith, Sternlicht launched

to buy apartment buildings that were being sold by the

Resolution Trust Corporation Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) was a U.S. government-owned asset management company first run by Lewis William Seidman and charged with liquidating assets, primarily real estate-related assets such as mortgage loans, that had been assets ...

, created by the federal government to hold and liquidate the real estate assets owned by failed banks after the

. Sternlicht raised $20 million from the families of William Bernard Ziff Jr. and Carter Burden of New York to fund these purchases. In 1993, Sternlicht contributed the apartment portfolio to Sam Zell's Equity Residential in exchange for a 20% stake in the company. In 1994, when Sternlicht was 36, his company purchased Westin Hotels & Resorts in a $561 million transaction in partnership with

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

. In January 1995, Sternlicht purchased Hotel Investors Trust, an almost-bankrupt

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...

, and took over as CEO. In 1997, Sternlicht's company acquired

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an American international hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Cent ...

in a $13.3 billion transaction, topping a bid by

Hilton Worldwide Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels, resorts, and timeshare properties. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the company is now led by Chris ...

. Sternlicht's innovations included

W Hotels W Hotels is an American hotel chain founded by Starwood Hotels and Resorts but now owned by Marriott International operating around 70 upscale hotels and long-stay apartment facilities worldwide. History W Hotels was launched in 1998 with W ...

and the Westin Heavenly Bed. The bed was modeled after the bed in Sternlicht's home. Barry Sternlicht also makes venture investments out of his family office, JAWS Capital - which has also engaged in three separate SPACs.

Awards

In 1998, Sternlicht received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

. In 2004, Sternlicht was named "America’s Best Lodging CEO" by ''

Institutional Investor An institutional investor is an entity that pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked ...

'' magazine. In 2005, Sternlicht was inducted into the ''

Interior Design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

'' Magazine Hall of Fame. In 2010, Commercial Property Executive named Sternlicht "Executive of the Year" and "Investor of the Year". In 2015, Sternlicht received the 2015 Cornell Icon of the Industry Award for his contributions to the hospitality industry, real estate markets and the global business community, as well his philanthropy.

Personal life

Barry Sternlicht was married to Mimi (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Reichert) Sternlicht, whom he met at Brown University, but they divorced in 2016. In 2016, Sternlicht moved to Florida.

Wealth

According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', Sternlicht has an estimated

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...

of $4.4 billion and is ranked 260th on the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is ...

Philanthropy

In 2007, Sternlicht and then wife Mimi funded a $1 million grant to the Harvard Stem Cell Institute to support research for a cure for

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

. In 2024, Sternlicht stopped his donations to Brown University, his alma mater, after the university agreed to hold a board vote addressing student protestors' desire to divest from companies doing business with Israel in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and subsequent Israeli military actions in Gaza. He believed the protestors were "ignorant" and also lacked "facts and moral clarity."

Political contributions

Sternlicht has historically identified as a Republican, though more recently has characterized his political views as independent. Sternlicht is a "self-described friend and golf partner" of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

but was disappointed Trump did not move to the political center as

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. In 2008, Sternlicht donated first to the Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential primary campaign and then to the

Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for president of the United States on February 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois. After winning a majority of delegates in the Democratic primaries of 2008, ...

. In 2012, Sternlicht contributed $70,800 to the presidential campaign of

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

. In 2016, Sternlicht contributed $125,000 to Right to Rise, the

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

created to support the Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign. When asked if he identified as a Republican in a 2020 interview, Sternlicht commented "What are you, crazy? I’m an independent. I’m

socially liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

and fiscally conservative. I think capitalism is the best form of government, but I think it needs to be regulated." Following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, a staffer for Sternlicht, at his direction, initiated a long-standing group chat on

WhatsApp WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...

with some of the United States' most powerful business leaders, with the stated goals of "chang ngthe narrative" in favor of Israel and "help ngwin the war" of U.S. public opinion. The chat, which eventually expanded to approximately 100 members before it was shut down in early May 2024, included former CEO of

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

Howard Schultz Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and author who was the chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017, and interim CEO from 2022 to 2023. Schultz owned the Seattle SuperS ...

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

founder and CEO

Michael Dell Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman and investor. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies. As of May 2025, accordin ...

, Kind snack company founder Daniel Lubetzky, hedge fund managers Daniel Loeb and

Bill Ackman William Albert Ackman (born May 11, 1966) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager who is the founder and chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company. His investment approach has made him ...

, billionaire Len Blavatnik, real estate investor Joseph Sitt, and Joshua Kushner, the founder of

Thrive Capital Thrive Capital Management, LLC, commonly Thrive Capital, is an American venture capital firm based in New York City. It focuses on software and internet investments. The firm was founded by Joshua Kushner who is also co-founder of Oscar Health ...

and brother to Jared Kushner, former president Donald Trump's son-in-law. The group also included non-American citizens, such as Cypriot-

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i billionaire real estate investor Yakir Gabay. Members of the 2023-2024 WhatsApp group chat discussed how they received private briefings by, and worked closely with, members of the Israeli government, including former Israeli prime minister

Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett (, ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician and businessman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the alternate prime minister from 1 July to 8 November 2022. Bennett was t ...

;

Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general. He served as a Minister without portfolio#Israel, minister without portfolio from 2023 to 2024, as the Ministry of Defense (Israel), minister of defense bet ...

, a member of the Israeli war cabinet; and Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog. Members of the group also held a video call in late April 2024 with

New York City Mayor The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, ...

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and former police officer who has served as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City P ...

in an effort to, according to reporting by

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

, "pressure Columbia’s president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police to the campus" in order to shut down

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

of Israel's offensive military operations in Gaza, which many campus protesters, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, civil servants, and governments around the world have alleged to be genocide. During the video call, group members discussed making political donations to Adams.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sternlicht, Barry American billionaires American chief executives of travel and tourism industry companies American people of Polish-Jewish descent American philanthropists American businesspeople in real estate Brown University alumni Harvard Business School alumni Living people 1960 births 21st-century American Jews