ABSTRACT
In September 2016, Marriott International (Marriott) acquired Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, LLC in an historic deal worth $13.3 billion. Marriott International was formed in 1993 when the Marriott Corporation split into two companies, Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation. In 1995, Marriott was the first hotel company worldwide to offer guests the option to book reservations online, via the company’s implementation of Marriott’s Automatic Reservation System for Hotel Accommodations. Unlike the long history of Marriott, which spans multiple generations, Starwood was founded in the 1990s as a startup by a thirty-one-year-old entrepreneur named Barry Sternlicht. At the time of the merger, Marriott’s portfolio included nineteen brands and Starwood had eleven. Marriott planned from the beginning to keep all thirty, in part because the agreements with third-party hotel owners required maintaining their existing brand. While Starwood is well known for innovation, Marriott is best at implementing and executing ideas.
