PARSIPPANY, New Jersey—Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced that, following a comprehensive search process, Amit Sripathi has been appointed as chief financial officer, effective immediately. Sripathi, who most recently served as the company’s chief development officer — North America, succeeds Kurt Albert, who has served as interim chief financial officer since November. Additionally, the company has named David Wilner, a 30-year franchise sales veteran, as chief development officer — North America. Both will report to Geoff Ballotti, president and chief executive officer.
“Amit’s combination of deep finance and capital markets expertise, coupled with firsthand operational leadership at Wyndham, makes him the ideal candidate to lead our finance organization,” said Geoff Ballotti, president and chief executive officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. “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, most recently as chief development officer — North America. 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. Before Wyndham, Sripathi was with RLJ Lodging Trust, responsible for capital markets and corporate finance. He also 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 Amit Sripathi, chief financial officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. “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.”
New Chief Development Officer — North America
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, Wyndham created and launched ECHO Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham. Before joining Wyndham, Wilner 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 translating owners’ needs into strategic growth,” said Geoff Ballotti, president and chief executive officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. “Owners and team members view him as a sincere and trusted partner who is most focused on our owner’s success, while helping our teams accelerate domestic net room growth across all of Wyndham’s brands.”
