Starwood Hotels

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is one of the world's largest hotel companies, located in some 100 countries. Its brands are St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, and Four Points by Sheraton. In 2011 the company posted revenues of $5,624,000,000. In 2006, it had sales of nearly $6 billion and profits of $1 billion.

Ties to Pete Peterson's "Fix the Debt"
The Campaign to Fix the Debt is the latest incarnation of a decades-long effort by former Nixon man turned Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson to slash earned benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare under the guise of fixing the nation's "debt problem." is part of the Campaign to Fix the Debt as of February 2013.

This article is part of the Center for Media and Democracy's investigation of Pete Peterson's Campaign to "Fix the Debt." Please visit our main SourceWatch page on Fix the Debt.

Key Executives
As of February 2013:
 * Frits Van Paasschen, President & Chief Executive Officer, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
 * Vasant M. Prabhu,Vice Chairman & Chief Financial Officer
 * Roger Berry,Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer
 * Jeff Cava, Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer
 * Christie Hicks, Senior Vice President, Starwood Sales Organization
 * Phil McAveety, Executive Vice President & Chief Brand Officer
 * John Petyon, Senior Vice President, Global Initiatives
 * Kenneth S. Siegel, Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel
 * Simon Turner, President, Global Development
 * Mark R. Vondrasek, Senior Vice President, Distribution, Loyalty & Partnership Marketing

Board of Directors
As of February 2013:
 * Bruce W. Duncan, Chairman and President & Chief Executive Officer, First Industrial Realty Trust
 * Frits Van Paasschen, President & Chief Executive Officer, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
 * Adam Aron, Chief Executive Officer, Philadelphia 76ers
 * Charlene Barshefsky, Senior International Partner, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering
 * Thomas Clarke,President, New Business Ventures, Nike, Inc.
 * Clayton C. Daley, Jr., Retired Vice Chair & Chief Financial Officer, Procter & Gamble
 * Lizanne Galbreath, Managing Director, Galbreath & Company
 * Eric Hippeau, Partner, Lerer Ventures
 * Aylwin B. Lewis,P President and Chief Executive Officer, Potbelly Sandwich Works, LLC
 * Stephen R. Quazzo, Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director & Co-founder, Pearlmark Real Estate Partners, LLC
 * Thomas O. Ryder, Retired Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Readers Digest Association, Inc.

Former board members include:
 * Kneeland C. Youngblood, Managing Partner Pharos Capital Group, L.L.C.

Political contributions
The Starwood Hotels political action committee gave to only one federal candidate in 2006, $5,000 to Jon Kyl (R-AZ).

Lobbying
The company spent $1,220,000 for lobbying in 2006. All of the money went to two lobbying firms, DLA Piper and Clark Consulting Federal Policy Group.

Contact details
1111 Westchester Avenue White Plains, NY 10604 Phone: 914-640-8100 Fax: 914-640-8591 Web: http://www.starwoodhotels.com

Featured SourceWatch Articles on Fix the Debt

 * Fix the Debt Portal Page
 * Fix the Debt's Leadership
 * Fix the Debt's Partner Groups
 * Fix the Debt's State Chapters
 * Fix the Debt's Lobbyists
 * Fix the Debt's Parent Group
 * Fix the Debt's Corporations
 * Pete Peterson
 * Peter G. Peterson Foundation
 * America Speaks
 * Simpson-Bowles Commission
 * Erskine Bowles
 * Alan Simpson
 * Social Security
 * Medicare
 * Medicaid