John Willard Marriott, Sr. (September 17, 1900 – August 13, 1985) was an
American entrepreneur and businessman. He was the founder of the
Marriott Corporation (which became
Marriott International in 1993), the parent company of one of the world's largest
hospitality,
hotel chains, and
food services companies. The Marriott company rose from a small
root beer stand in
Washington D.C. in 1927 to a chain of family
restaurants by 1932, to its first motel in 1957. By the time he died, the Marriott company operated 1,400 restaurants and 143 hotels and
resorts worldwide, including two
theme parks, earned
USD $4.5 billion in revenue annually with 154,600 employees. The company's interests even extended to a line of
cruise ships.