John Willard Marriott and His Billion Dollar Empire Marriott Corp.

A genius at finding a need and filling it, John Willard Marriott’s is best known as the founder of Marriott Corporation, later Marriot International – the fastest growing and most profitable organization in the American food and lodging business. The largest hospitality, hotel chains, and food services company.

The early life of Marriott was not easy. Growing up in poverty, like many other successful entrepreneurs at that time, he had to work at young age. He quit school early without graduating because he needed to get a job. His family was very religious, so he traveled for two years through New England and then in Washington DC to preach the Gospel. At that time John had his first business idea.- he wanted to open a beer stand to make some money. Unfortunately, his father’s business collapsed while he was in Washington, so he moved back.  Then, Marriot decided to complete his education. He studied for two years in Weber State College and afterwards moved to the University of Utah. To earn money and pay his university fee, he got a job selling underwear in the Pacific Northwest.

During Marriott's senior year at the University of Utah, he began working on his plan to open a root beer stand in Salt Lake City and purchased A&W franchise. The business slowly began to grow and Marriott opened small nine-stool root beer stand. He got permission from A&W to add food service and opened his first Hot Shoppe. His wife Allie helped him in the restaurant. The food was delicious and the prices were low. Two more stores opened soon.

 “Great companies are built by people who never stop thinking about ways to improve the business.”

Yet he wanted to develop his company further, and he bought an available piece of land nearby one of his stores. His idea was to make the first drive-in service on the East Coast and he succeeded! The cars would stop by the curb and the waiters would run out of the restaurant to deliver the food to them on a special tray that was latched onto the car roof. The service became so popular that soon all Hot Shoppes began offering it.  In1932, as the Great Depression outlook was darker than ever, Marriott had seven Hot Shoppes in the Washington area and was close to being a millionaire.

 “Entrepreneurs are never satisfied. They want to do things better. They strive for perfection and use all the ingenuity  to their command to achieve it.”

After 30 successful years in the food business, Marriott took the biggest chance of his life. He opened his first hotel, Twin Bridges, and described it as “motor hotel”. It was near the Washington National Airport. In 1953, many people started to travel and it was easy for him to predict that a hotel at that spot would be profitable. The size of the motel was the largest in the world with 370 beds.

Marriott Twin Bridges Hotel, 1957

Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, 2013

“The price of success is a hard workout – not just 8 hours 5 days a week, but nearly all our waking hours. At least that has been my experience. When I started, it was about six and a half days and nights for many years. It paid off. I set an example for others and gave many who were willing to pay the price an opportunity to grow and have the good things of life.”

In 1963, after 35 years of hard work, with very little rest, Marriott knew it was time to train a successor. He chose his eldest son, Bill Jr., to run the company. The next year, Bill Jr. was appointed as company president. The company name was changed to Marriott Hot Shoppes Inc., but it did not last, and it was changed once more  to Marriott Corp.

Shortly after that, Marriott decided to compete with McDonald’s and acquired the Big Boy Restaurants. Later on, the company owned a chain of fast-food restaurants, called Roy Rogers. Marriott further diversified its business assets by entering into the travel market- the company launched Sun Line Cruise Ships and an agency, Marriot World Travel. Marriott went so far as to purchase three Great America theme parks.

The founder of the Marriott hotels died on August 13, 1985. At that time, his empire was worth $3.5 billion. In 1999, the company, under its new name, Marriott International, was next to the number one company in the world, boasting 1900 hotels, some of which were owned and some - franchised.