Monty Bennett

Monty J. Bennett is the Chairman, CEO, and Founder of Ashford Inc. (NYSE: AINC), an asset management services company for the hospitality industry. According to Ashford, Monty Bennett's deep experience in the hospitality industry along with his strong and consistent leadership qualities are "vital skills that make him uniquely qualified to serve as chairman of our Board of Directors." He is also the founder and chairman of Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) and Braemar Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BHR). Monty Bennett is a member of the member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association's Industry Real Estate Finance Advisory Council (IREFAC). He is a member of the Urban Land Institute's Hotel Council and the CEO Fiscal Leadership Council for Fix the Debt. The council is non-partisan group focused on ways to reduce the national debt. Bennett serves on the advisory boards of Texans for Education Reform and for GlobalHotel-Network.com. Bennett is a frequent speaker and panelist for several hotel development and investment conferences including the NYU conference and the ALIS conference. In 2011, he was given the Top-Performing CEO Award from HVS for his role as CEO of Ashford Inc. The award is given annually to a CEO in the hospitality industry who provides the best shareholder value based on a pay-for-performance model. The model compares financial results relative to a CEO's compensation and stock appreciation, company growth and EBITDA increases. Monty Bennett earned a bachelor's of science degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Management. He later earned an MBA from Cornell's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. Monty Bennett lives and works in Dallas, Texas. He is married and has 4 children. One of this passions is his 1,000 acre ranch in east Texas, which is well known as an international wildlife preserve.