Starwood names Frits van Paasschen as Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Frits van Paasschen, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Coors Brewing Company, is to join Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Chief Executive Officer, effective 24 September 2007. Mr. van Paasschen, who will relocate to the White Plains area, succeeds Bruce W. Duncan, who has served as interim CEO since April and will continue as Starwood's Chairman.

Mr. van Paasschen, 46, has over 20 years of experience with consumer-focused, global lifestyle brands. During his two and a half years as President and CEO of Molson Coors Brewing Company's largest division, Coors Brewing Company increased its volumes, sales, and profits. He reversed nine quarters of decline in the flagship brand, Coors Light, while growing market share and significantly improving Coors' ranking in an independent survey of distributor satisfaction. Prior to joining Coors in 2005, Mr. van Paasschen spent seven years at Nike, Inc, where he was most recently responsible for its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and increased revenues from $2.5 billion to nearly $4 billion and doubled profits over a four-year period.

Before joining Nike in 1997, Mr. van Paasschen spent two years as Vice President, Finance and Planning at Disney Consumer Products and earlier in his career was a management consultant for eight years at McKinsey & Company and the Boston Consulting Group. He also serves as a director on the Boards of Jones Apparel Group Inc. and Oakley Inc. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. degree from Amherst College.

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