Lodging giant Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide says that CEO Steve Heyer has resigned after losing the confidence of the company's board. The move to oust Heyer, 54, came after a weekend board
meeting that focused more on the executive's personality than his performance. People close to the situation say Starwood plans to move forward with many of Heyer's initiatives.
Heyer, who
had a year and a half remaining on his employment contract, was brought in to run Starwood two and a half years ago. The shakeup was unexpected.
During his tenure, Heyer relied heavily on
his background in marketing to reshape the hotel company. He had been president and COO at Coca-Cola Co. after stints at Turner Broadcasting and Young & Rubicam. Heyer set about individualizing each
of Starwood's hotel brands and adding new ones. He also introduced new hotel brands into the Starwood portfolio, including aloft, a mid-price hotel brand based on the trendy W hotel brand; and
Element, a concept based on its Westin business-traveler hotels.
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