Morgans Hotel Group interim CEO
Jason Kalisman has resigned less than two years after leading a shareholder
proxy battle that resulted in the ouster of the boutique hotel company's previous
board of directors.
Kalisman, founder of
shareholder OTK Associates, said Tuesday that he was resigning immediately to
“spend more time on personal matters,” though he will remain on the board. Board member Howard Lorber was named chairman, and CCFO Richard Szymanski will temporarily take on CEO duties.
Kalisman helped lead the June
2013 removal of Morgans’ prior board after a lengthy proxy battle in which OTK
and other shareholders alleged that the company was too beholden to its largest creditor,
Yucaipa Cos., an entity headed by supermarket magnate Ron Burkle. Three months
later, Morgans CEO Michael Gross, a one-time employer of Burkle, stepped down,
and was replaced on an interim basis by Kalisman.
Morgans,
whose brands include Mondrian and Delano,
continued to be the subject of shareholder unrest. More recently, the company was dealt a blow when the new owners of New York’s Mondrian Soho removed
Morgans’ management and branding from the hotel last month and renamed the
263-room property the NoMo SoHo.