Hilton vs Marriott | Wake-Up Call | 3

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2023

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s the early 1990s and Marriott’s a financial wreck heading for the rocks, and running out of time to find a way to remedy its debts.

But as Marriott crumbles, the sleeping giant that is Hilton is waking up. And it wants its position as market leader back.

But to retake the crown it needs to move fast. The hotel industry is consolidating and right now Hilton looks more prey than predator.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	A note to listeners, this episode contains depictions of a catastrophic event.
0:15.0	Stephen Bowlenbach listens quietly as Marriott Senior Executive sit around the boardroom
0:19.7	table and paint a gloomy picture.
0:23.4	It's March 1992, and Bowlenbach's just rejoin Marriott after six years away.
0:29.1	He's a stout 49-year-old Californian with graying hair and a reputation as a financial
0:34.9	Fix It Man.
0:36.8	After leaving Marriott, he saved Holiday Inn from a takeover attempt by real estate mogul
0:41.2	Donald Trump.
0:43.0	Bowlenbach's defense proved so effective that Trump then hired him to rescue the Trump
0:48.0	organization from bankruptcy.
0:50.2	Now, Marriott's brought him back his chief financial officer to try and save it from
0:56.2	the mess it's now in.
0:59.0	An executive rattles off the failures.
1:01.7	It's not like it was when you were last here, Stephen.
1:04.4	Things got so desperate, we even begged Coca-Cola for $50 million.
1:09.0	Another executive interjects.
1:10.4	Yeah, and they said no, after all the decades, we backed them.
1:15.1	Thankfully Pepsi came through with the money.
1:17.3	That's why we sell Pepsi now.
1:19.1	And don't forget to take over attempts.
1:20.8	I've lost count of them all.
1:22.2	There was bass, that Malaysian casino operator.
	...

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