Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc. has announced that, following a comprehensive search process, Amit Sripathi has been appointed CFO. with David Wilner, a 30-year franchise sales veteran, moving into Sripathi’s former role of chief development officer – North America.
Sripathi succeeds Kurt Albert, who has served as interim CFO since November. Both Sripathi and Wilner will report to Geoff Ballotti, president/CEO.
“Amit’s combination of deep finance and capital markets expertise, coupled with firsthand operational leadership at Wyndham, make him the ideal candidate to lead our finance organization,” said Ballotti. “Amit is uniquely qualified to deliver on our shareholder expectations and has proven himself a champion of owners, as evidenced by Wyndham’s record openings, executions and development pipelines both here in the U.S. and internationally. We are confident in his ability to build on our sustained successes and capture opportunities that will drive increased profitability for our franchisees, while returning excess capital to shareholders in a consistent and sustainable manner.”
Sripathi joined Wyndham in 2021 and has served in a variety of leadership roles at the company. During his tenure, he helped Wyndham achieve 20 consecutive quarters of organic net room growth and oversaw the divestiture of the company’s owned hotels. Prior to Wyndham, he was with RLJ Lodging Trust, responsible for capital markets and corporate finance and served in roles of increasing responsibility in the real estate, lodging and gaming investment banking group at Deutsche Bank.
“Wyndham is a truly unique company with an asset-light franchise business model that consistently delivers for its owners and shareholders,” said Sripathi. “Our priority is to maintain our rigorous financial discipline and capital allocation strategy to ensure we achieve our long-term growth objectives and maximize shareholder returns. I very much look forward to partnering with the entire leadership team to drive enhanced value creation and build on the ‘Count on Me’ culture that defines our company.”
In his new role, Wilner will lead the company’s North American franchise sales and architecture design & construction teams. During his nearly eight years at the company, he has helped franchisees leverage the Wyndham Advantage and the company’s brands. Under his leadership, Wyndham created and launched ECHO Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham. Prior to joining Wyndham, he spent 20 years as part of the franchise sales leadership team for La Quinta.
“From leading development at La Quinta prior to Wyndham’s acquisition of the brand to driving growth across our new construction prototype brands, including La Quinta, WaterWalk, Hawthorn Suites, ECHO Suites and Microtel, David has tremendous expertise in translating owners’ needs into strategic growth,” said Ballotti. “Owners and team members view him as a sincere and trusted partner who is most focused on our owners’ success, while helping our teams accelerate domestic net room growth across all of Wyndham’s brands.”
