Monty Bennett

Bennett grew up in Houston, Texas, as one of seven children. His father, Archie Bennett Jr., was also a hospitality executive. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration in 1988,[2] and a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management in 1989.[3]

In 1989, Bennett co-founded and joined Remington Hotels, a hotel company co-owned by his father.[2] He grew the business from six hotels to over 130 by 2020, including Braemar real estate investment trust which operates 13 resort properties.[1] He was CEO of Braemar Hotels & Resorts until 2016 and since 2013 has remained its chairman.[4] He is also the founder of Ashford, a company that advises both Braemar Hotels & Resorts and Ashford Hospitality Trust, two publicly traded real estate investment trusts.[5] Bennett was the CEO of Ashford Hospitality Trust from its founding until 2017, and he remains the firm's chairman.[6]

In 2020, a number of large companies were criticized for receiving funds distributed through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).[7] Bennett's Ashford company received $56 million,[7] the largest such distribution.[8] The money was returned after the company received backlash. Ashford laid off or furloughed 95% of its 7,000 workers by late March 2020. Bennett forfeited 25% of his 2019 earned bonus, took a 20% cut in salary which he later took in stock only.[9] During this period, Ashford Trust designated 25 properties as "lodging for first responders, healthcare workers, and others affected by the pandemic".[7]

Bennett has been a donor to the Republican Party, donating more than $1.1 million to Donald Trump's presidential campaigns and to the Republican National Committee between the 2016 election and May 2020.[7][10] As of 2019, Bennett was on the advisory board of Texans for Education Reform.[5]

In October 2020, The New York Times reported that Bennett had pitched a media network run by Brian Timpone to publish articles about topics ranging from COVID-19 stimulus legislation to U.S.–China policy.[11][12][8] In February 2021, Bennett announced his acquisition of the website Dallas Express (unrelated to the former African American newspaper of the same name), which was identified by D Magazine as having previously been part of Timpone's Metric Media network.[13][14][15] In a March 2023 report, The Texas Observer found that the Dallas Express was being used to promote a network of pro-police and anti-LGBT astroturfing groups.[16]

Bennett is married and has four children—two from a previous marriage, and two stepchildren. He lives in Dallas, where he has lived for more than 30 years. He also owns a 1,500-acre ranch in Athens, Texas, a portion of which has been in his family for three generations.[1]

In 2014, he won an out-of-court settlement against the Tarrant Regional Water District to divert a pipeline from running across his property, having created a conservation district on his land and brought endangered animals to live on the land, amongst other exotic animals he already had.[1][17]

• "Hotel M&A becomes hot property for Chinese investors" – Bloomberg Markets video (2016)