The Highest Paid Hotel CEOs
Skift Take
Rob Goldstein, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., was last year's best-paid public hotel company CEO. Goldstein's compensation was $31 million.
Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO of Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, was the second-best compensated hotel CEO in 2021. He earned $24 million in total compensation.
Goldstein and Hoplamazian led the CEO pay tables during a tough year for navigating a choppy pandemic recovery. They also led an eye-raising pattern of CEOs making many multiples more than the average hotel worker.
As with other hotel CEOs, Goldstein's and Hoplamazian's compensation packages were heavily weighted in stock and option awards, which vest over time. The amounts are estimates companies made for U.S. financial regulators. Ultimate payouts may vary depending on how the stock does.
The fact Goldstein led his peers in pay makes sense in light of his negotiation of arguably the biggest property deal of the year. Las Vegas Sands sold its Las Vegas properties — The Venetian Resort Las Vegas and the Sands Expo and Convention Center — for about $6.25 billion to Apollo Global Management and Vici Properties.
Hoplamazian, in turn, led Hyatt through the largest acquisition in its history with a $2.7 billion deal to acquire Apple Leisure. Given this outsized deal, one could argue the executive arguably deserved to be ahead of his other hotel peers in compensati
