Traveling man Marriott’s new CEO, Arne Sorenson ’80, is exploring the world and helping it thrive By Ellen Modersohn
Ruth (Christenson) and Arne Sorenson ’80 summited Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania last summer on a trip with their children.
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ast December, Arne Sorenson ’80 went out for a run in Haiti. He was in the earthquake-shattered nation to sign a hotel deal for Marriott International. But as he wound through chaotic streets, past a tent camp, and through a slum, he got lost. When he finally found his way back to his hotel, incredulous colleagues asked, “Are you an idiot?” But Sorenson was not rattled. By getting off the usual track, he says, “You end up seeing people in a way that you don’t if you’re in a bubble, and that’s what I absolutely love.” A keen curiosity about the world drives the man who in March became CEO of Marriott International. Sorenson “gets local,” as he calls it, to experience cultures for himself whenever he can. He revels in the sensory overload of places such as India and Haiti, discerning the cultural trends that can not
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only help Marriott grow but also foster sustainable living around the planet. Sorenson set himself up for a versatile career when he chose law school after graduating from Luther. He majored in religion and business management as an undergraduate, earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School, and specialized in mergers and acquisitions at the highly regarded Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C. He then climbed the Marriott ladder after he helped the company negotiate a deal that changed its corporate structure. It might seem that he knew early on what direction he wanted his life to take. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he says. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.” He ended up going to law school without knowing much about the field but thinking, “I can do more than one career” with a law
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