009 - From Hotel School to Hotel Mogul: Monty Bennett's Journey to Success

Business Decoded

This episode of Business Decoded features an interview with Monty Bennett, CEO and chairman of Ashford Inc., a hotel investment and operating company. Bennett shares his journey from following in his father's footsteps in the hotel industry to building a successful, vertically integrated business.

Mr. Bennett has over 30 years of experience in virtually all aspects of the hospitality industry including hotel real estate, finance, hotel ownership, operations, development, asset management, project management, and others. In 1989, Bennett joined Remington Hotels, a hotel company and grew the business from six hotels to over 130 by 2020, including Braemar real estate investment trust which operates 13 resort properties. He served as CEO and Chairman of Braemar Hotels & Resorts. He is also the founder of Ashford Inc. Ashford is a publicly traded company that generates nearly $1.4 billion in annual revenue and serves as an alternative asset management company with a portfolio of strategic operating businesses that provide global asset management, investment management and related services to the real estate and hospitality sectors. Ashford's principals have a long track record of success and many years of experience investing and operating in the hospitality industry. Currently, Ashford serves as the advisor to two NYSE-listed real estate investment trusts, Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) and Braemar Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BHR). In addition to his roles at Ashford, over his career Mr. Bennett has been a member and leader in numerous industry associations. He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from Cornell's S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management and received a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction from the School of Hotel Administration also at Cornell. He is a life member of the Cornell Hotel Society.