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Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide president and CEO Frits van Paasschen has resigned from his position by mutual consent with the board of directors.
According to a statement released by the Stamford, Connecticut-based hotel and leisure company on Tuesday via Bloomberg.com's Neil Callanan, Adam Aron will step in to act as interim CEO while the board begins its search for a permanent replacement.
"The board believes now is the right time to take steps to accelerate Starwood's growth, improve performance, and sharpen our focus," said Chairman Bruce Duncan in a statement.
Aron "is very familiar with our strategy, brands and leaders around the globe," he added.
Aron definitely isn't short on experience and, if anything, his resume suggests he's capable of delivering in the interim role.
Aron has been on Starwood's board since 2006 and is the former CEO of both Vail Resorts and Norwegian Cruise Line. He was also the CEO of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers for several years and has served as CEO of World Leisure Partners Inc. since 2006.
Van Paasschen had been president and CEO of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide for the past seven years. According to the Associated Press, van Paasschen will remain with the Westin and Sheraton operator to help ease the transition.
Tuesday's big announcement comes on the heels of last week's news that Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide is planning to complete a spinoff of its 22 timeshare resorts into a separate publicly traded company by the end of 2015.
The company also reported its fourth-quarter results last week, announcing an adjusted profit of 97 cents per share on revenue of $1.49 billion.
"This is the right time for us to spin off our vacation ownership business and move Starwood forward in its asset light strategy," said van Paasschen in a statement released last week via the Wall Street Journal. "Not only does SVO [Starwood Vacation Ownership] continue to have a great outlook for growth, but valuations for timeshare companies are at attractive levels."
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