Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) yesterday announced executive leadership appointments for the new, publicly traded pure-play hotel company to be created by the recently announced 2018 spin-off from Wyndham Worldwide.
With 18 brands and over 8,100 hotels, Wyndham's hotel business is the world's largest hotel company by number of properties. It is home to an industry-leading loyalty program with more than 50 million members, and is emerging from a three-year strategic focus on improved brand quality, distribution technology, and brand marketing. Anchored by iconic hotel brands including Days Inn and Super 8, the future asset-light, fee-for-service hotel company is poised to build on its leading position in the economy and midscale segments, while growing its upscale portfolio and management business.
As previously announced, Geoff Ballotti, current CEO of Wyndham Hotel Group, will continue to lead the hotel company as President and CEO. Also recently announced, David Wyshner has joined Wyndham Worldwide as CFO and will become CFO of the new hotel company upon spin.
The following new appointments were announced today:
- Chief Strategy and Development Officer: Tom Barber, currently Senior Vice President, M&A and Operational Excellence at Wyndham Worldwide.
- General Counsel: Paul Cash, currently Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Wyndham Destination Network. Cash will assume this role at the end of 2017.
- Chief Administrative Officer: Mary Falvey, currently Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Wyndham Worldwide. Falvey will assume this role immediately in addition to her current role at Wyndham Worldwide.
- Chief Marketing Officer: Barry Goldstein, currently Chief Marketing Officer at Wyndham Hotel Group.
- Chief Operating Officer: Bob Loewen, currently Chief Operating Officer of Wyndham Hotel Group.
"This proven and experienced leadership team of industry veterans is perfectly suited to move this business forward as a standalone leader in hospitality, with an incredible global portfolio, a strong and resilient asset-light business model, strong cash flow, and a growing pipeline," said Ballotti. "Each of our leaders brings a unique perspective and background that together creates a powerful combination of public company and hospitality industry expertise as we look ahead to growing our collection of brands and driving lasting value for shareholders."
The two public companies intend to enter into long-term exclusive license agreements to retain their affiliation with one of the industry's top rated loyalty programs, Wyndham Rewards, as well as continued collaboration on key inventory sharing and customer cross-sell initiatives.
Tom Barber has served as Senior Vice President, M&A and Operational Excellence at Wyndham Worldwide, since 2012. Prior to joining Wyndham, he served as Director, Mergers & Acquisitions at Credit Suisse Securities, where he was involved in more than $20 billion in transactions across most industry sectors. Prior to joining Credit Suisse Securities, he served as Manager, Strategy Consulting at Gemini Consulting and as a business development and product manager at Microsoft Corporation.
Paul Cash has served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Wyndham Destination Network since 2010 and with the Company since 2005. Prior, Cash was a partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions, International and Entertainment and New Media practice groups of Alston + Bird LLP, New York, N.Y., where he worked extensively in the negotiation and documentation of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, venture capital investments and intellectual property licenses. Previously, Cash was an associate at Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster in Germany.
Mary Falvey is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Wyndham Worldwide, where she leads a wide range of human resources and corporate operations functions across the global enterprise, including human resources, communications, corporate real estate and facility operations, security, corporate social responsibility, and event management. Prior, Falvey served in several senior leadership positions at Cendant Corporation, including Executive Vice President of Global Human Resources for RCI and Vice President of Human Resources for the hotel division. Earlier in her career, she held various human resources positions at Nabisco.
Barry Goldstein was named Chief Marketing Officer of Wyndham Hotel Group in March 2017. Goldstein was previously Chief Digital and Distribution Officer for Wyndham Hotel Group, supporting the company's digital marketing strategies. Prior to joining Wyndham, Goldstein was Chief Revenue Officer for Dolce Hotels and Resorts (later acquired by Wyndham Hotel Group) and Vice President, Global Sales Strategy, Technology and Operations, at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
Bob Loewen is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Wyndham Hotel Group. Previously, Loewen was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Wyndham Hotel Group, responsible for financial reporting, forecasting and planning, mergers and acquisitions and business development investments. He joined the company in April 2000 as Director, Corporate Audit. Prior to Wyndham, he served as division controller for Becton Dickinson Healthcare Consulting.
David Wyshner is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Wyndham Worldwide. He was most recently President and CFO of Avis Budget Group, the global vehicle rental service provider, and served as Avis Budget's CFO for more than ten years. Prior to that, Wyshner served as Executive Vice President and Treasurer of Cendant Corporation, a global diversified services company with approximately $20 billion in annual revenues, where Wyshner led the execution of that company's separation into three publicly traded companies.