J.W. “Bill” Marriott Jr. will step down as CEO of Marriott International in March and will be succeeded by Arne Sorenson, the company's current president and chief operating officer.
Marriott will remain chairman of the company.
Marriott, a former Navy officer, joined his family’s company full-time in 1956, and has overseen Marriott’s rapid growth worldwide since being named president of the company in 1964. He succeeded his father and company founder J. Willard Marriott as CEO in 1972.
Marriott, who turns 80 next March, has served as Marriott International's chairman since 1985, when his father died.
“I will continue to share my experience with our senior management team as we pursue our paths of growth and face the cyclical events I have confronted so many times in my career,” Marriott said in a statement. “My energies will also be directed at continuing to reinforce the timeless core values that have been the bedrock of our success and to being a company ambassador as we build opportunity around the world.”
Sorenson, who joined the company in 1996, will be just the third CEO in the company’s 84-year history and the first non-family member to lead Marriott International.
Marriott International has almost 3,700 hotels and resorts in more than 70 countries, and employs about 300,000 people worldwide.
The company’s first operation was a root beer stand that opened in 1927 in Washington, D.C.
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