People
Barry Sternlicht
As of October 6, 2026, Barry Sternlicht is chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group and separately of Starwood Property Trust. Starwood’s biography dates the private manager’s formation to 1991 and describes his role in hotel-brand development. The manager’s investment and asset totals refer to its platforms and investors, not Sternlicht’s personal property holdings. Public evidence 1 Reviewed public evidence.
Updated
Career
Sternlicht founded Starwood Capital in 1991. From 1995 to 2005, he was chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which he founded and grew into an international hotel company. He later launched SH Group, now Starwood Hotels, the management company behind 1 Hotels, Baccarat Hotels, and Treehouse Hotels. He chairs the board of Starwood Property Trust, a publicly traded real estate finance company.
Known For
Sternlicht's career connects real estate investment with hotel ownership, development, and brand creation. During his hotel-company tenure, Starwood developed W Hotels and expanded St. Regis from a single property into a global brand. His current investment platform focuses on global real estate and includes residential, hotel, office, industrial, retail, and land investments, according to Starwood Capital's leadership profile.
Starwood Capital reports that it manages more than $130 billion in assets. This is the firm's stated current scale, not a measure of Sternlicht's personal holdings or the realized value of any single investment. The firm's official profile also lists his role at Starwood Property Trust, linking his work to commercial real estate lending and finance.
Related Pages
- Starwood Capital Group
- Investor People Hub
- Investors and Platforms Hub
- National Investor Benchmarks Hub
- John Grayken
- Private Credit in CRE
- CRE Credit Stress Snapshot Q1 2026
- Office Bifurcation
- Sun Belt Geography Hub
- Texas Geography Hub
- Digital Infrastructure Real Estate
- Private Equity Real Estate Managers
- CRE Investment Strategy
Sources
- Barry Sternlicht | Starwood Capital Group
- 2025 Annual Report | Starwood Property Trust
- Starwood Property Trust annual reports
Reviewed Profile Update — 2026-10-06
Hospitality Brand Identity. SH Hotels & Resorts renamed itself Starwood Hotels in March 2025, covering 1 Hotels, Baccarat Hotels, and Treehouse Hotels. Preserve this contemporary company’s identity separately from the earlier Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide business acquired by Marriott. Shared branding alone does not establish continuity of ownership across the two companies. Public evidence 1 Reviewed public evidence.
Investment Interpretation. Synthesis: His record links property capital with operating brands. Corporate CEO titles, a president appointment, and succession discussion do not establish a fixed CEO exit date or personal ownership percentages. Vehicle-specific liquidity and redemption terms need vehicle-specific dated evidence. Public evidence 1 Public evidence 2 Reviewed public evidence.
Related research
- Starwood Capital Group
- Hospitality and Lodging