Billionaire Robert Rowling has resigned from the board of directors for Gaylord Entertainment.
Rowling owns TRT Holdings, Gaylord’s largest shareholder and parent of Omni Hotels & Resorts.
Omni this week announced the construction of the Omni Nashville, a hotel that will be adjacent to the new Music City Convention Center. Both venues are expected to open in 2013 and will compete with the Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center.
In his letter of resignation, Rowling said he wanted to eliminate any potential for conflict of interest.
Rowling had held the board position since March 2009, when Gaylord increased the size of its board from nine to 11 directors. TRT and another shareholder, Gamco Asset Management, were pressuring Gaylord for greater board representation at the time.
TRT said it will select a new independent board member, subject to approval by Gaylord’s nominating and corporate governance committee.
When the Gaylord board expanded last year, TRT agreed to a restriction that the company not acquire 22% or more of the outstanding voting securities of Gaylord. As of late last year, TRT has a 13.6% stake in Gaylord, according to a report in the Nashville Post.
Commenting on the Omni hotel project in Nashville, Gaylord CEO Colin Reed said, "We believe the city made an excellent choice in selecting Omni Hotels to develop and operate the downtown convention center hotel, and that this hotel will make Nashville an even more attractive destination."