I’m sure many of you are too young to recall the first time Ford Motor Company wasn’t managed by a Ford.  It was back in 1980, when Henry the Deuce (Henry Ford II) didn’t name his brother to head the company, but a complete stranger (ok, not a complete stranger, but not a Ford either), Philip Caldwell, to lead the company.   And, Philip did Ford proud.

Or, Corning (used to be Corning Glass Works).  Which was founded and headed by a member of the Houghton family for five generations.  (Company presidents [not the CEO] were often non-Houghton members.  Like the great Tom McAvoy.)  During wrenching times- a flood that devastated Corning (the city AND the company) that lead to major layoffs and a diminishment of the love between Corning (the city) and Corning (the company). About the time Corning was shifting from Corningware to fiber optics and biotechnology.  (One of the tenets of the Houghtons and Corning was to invest heavily in R&D.)  And, then, due to an illness, the real reins of the firm were turned over to Roger Ackerman (not a relation), who severed the firm’s businesses- and was subsequently replaced by the person who ceded control to him in the first place.

As you can see, family businesses often do not deal with outsiders well.  That typically only happens when it’s clear that the next (generation) family member will only serve to destroy the organization.  (Did you not watch Succession on HBO?)

Which is what makes today’s discussion so bittersweet.

J. Willard and Alice Marriott, a husband and wife Mormon couple, started (what would become the ) Marriott enterprise 94 years ago in DC. As an A&W Root Beer Stand franchise. Which in short order became “Hot Shoppes”, a food eatery (a place which we now term fast casual), including drive in restaurants.  Expanding to airline catering (at the Hoover Airport- this is pre-DCA days, at what is now the Pentagon location), until the firm went public in 1953.

Shortly thereafter, the Marriotts opened their first (and my favorite) hotel, The Twin Bridges, at the foot of the 14^th Street and the Long (railroad) Bridges in Arlington (now the Crystal City section), Virginia.  Willard put his son, Bill [J. Willard, Jr.] in charge.  And, take charge he did. Opening a slew of hotels across American and the world, with its top of the line hotel, the JW (in honor of dad) opening in DC in 1984, right before JW passed away.

Marriott was well on becoming the largest hotel chain- expanding from the Marriott line, to Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, Towne Place, Courtyard etc.  They even acquired the Ritz Carlton chain- the swankiest of the bunch, to fill out their portfolio.

And, then in 2012, Bill did the “unthinkable”.  He turned over the reins to an outsider, Arne Sorenson.  While a devout religious person, Arne wasn’t a Mormon (Lutheran, instead).  He didn’t grow up learning the ins (or is that inns?) and outs of the hotel business.   Nope, Arne met Bill as a lawyer (from Latham and Watkins, where he was a mergers and acquisitions [M&A] king) advising Marriott about  some disgruntled stockholder issues.  Hiring Arne, and moving from general counsel, to CFO, to COO, to president. Until Arne assumed the CEO position.

What did Arne do?  He made Marriott the biggest hotel chain in the world, via his acquisition of Starwood Hotels ($13.6 billion, 2016), and then had to deal with Starwood’s poor security (that left 300 million folks’ data exposed).  And, created Moxy- the brand to appeal to the next generation of travelers.  And, he visited some 200 Marriott properties each and every year.  (Not just seeing the management, but the cooks, the housekeepers, and the table bussers.) Wow!  Talk about trial by fire.

And, then, came the pandemic- Arne’s response?  He refused his salary.  Before the choice was made to have any company-wide lay-offs.   (It was the first time company employees had seen the results of the chemotherapy sessions Arne had undergone.  His formerly hirsute look was gone- Arne was totally bald now.)  Marriott has always been a great community citizen.

Oh, wait, there’s more.  Consider again that the Marriott (yes, it’s public, but) is a family enterprise.  Not just ANY family.  A Mormon family enterprise.  And, Arne used his platform as CEO of Marriott to discuss immigration and LGBTQ discrimination.  (OK, that’s what Bill would have done, too.  But, still….)  Oh, and the $ 42 billion enterprise had its stock price more than double during Arne’s less than decade tenure.

The title of this blog?  Those are the words Bill (JW Marriott, Jr) used to describe Arne, who succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the age of 62.

Just like our beloved Alex Trebek.

Two this year- so far.  Two mentsches.  Two by pancreatic cancer.