What 12 Hotel CEOs Were Paid in 2021

Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, July 18 in New York City. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

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Episode Notes

Skift has published the list of the highest-paid hotel CEOs, and Las Vegas Sands Corporation chief Rob Goldstein came out on top for 2021, earning $31 million, writes Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.

Goldstein was awarded $7 million more than his closest peer, Hyatt chief Mark Hoplamazian. Most of both executives’ 2021 earnings came from stock and option awards. A huge factor in Goldstein emerging as 2021’s highest-paid hotel CEO was his negotiation of arguably the year’s biggest property deal. Las Vegas Sands sold its Las Vegas properties to Apollo Global Management and Vici Properties for more than $6 billion.

Although O’Neill writes navigating the pandemic and its recovery has been an enormous challenge for hotel CEOs, he calls out the growing disparity in pay between CEOs and workers. Skift found the median ratio of CEO to average worker pay was 442-to-1.

Next, shareholder group Institutional Shareholder Services is urging Spirit Airlines investors to vote against the carrier’s proposed merger with Frontier Airlines, writes Edward Russell, editor of Airline Weekly, a Skift brand.

ISS said in a report on Friday that JetBlue’s $3.8 offer for Spirit is a better alternative than a Spirit merger with Frontier. The group’s recommendation is a reversal of its earlier support for the merger with Frontier, which was valued with $2.4 billion in cash and stock at the end of June.

Spirit executives have repeatedly supported a merger with Frontier, citing the low probability of a JetBlue bid being approved by U.S. regulators. Spirit shareholders are scheduled to vote on the Frontier proposal on July 27.

Finally, despite fears of recession and rising fuel prices, the average daily rates for short-term rentals in the U.S. this summer are continuing to surge, writes Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.

Short-term rental data analytics firm AirDNA revealed, in its mid-year 2022 outlook, a 7 percent year-over-year increase in the average daily rates for short-term rentals in the U.S. — as well as nearly 30 percent jump from pre-Covid metrics. The report added more short-term rental nights have been booked this summer than any other in history, beating last year’s record.

However, AirDNA found short-term rental demand in big cities this summer is still 28 percent lower than during the same period three years ago.