Monty Bennett | |
---|---|
Born | 1964or1965(age 58–59) [1] |
Education | Cornell University (BS, MBA) |
Occupation | Business executive |
Employer | Ashford Inc. |
Title | Chairman and chief executive officer |
Monty J. Bennett (born 1964or1965) is an American businessman who founded and is the chairman and CEO of Ashford Inc., a hospitality real estate company. He is also the publisher of the Dallas Express, [lower-alpha 1] a news website launched in 2021 in Dallas, Texas. He is a Republican donor and is known for various political causes in Texas.
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] Ashford announced in May 2020 that it would return the money after the company received backlash. [7] Ashford had laid off or furloughed 95% of its 7,000 workers by late March 2020. [9] Bennett forfeited 25% of his 2019 earned bonus, took a 20% cut in salary which he later took in stock only. [10]
Bennett donated 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] [11] He has been a supporter of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. [12] He is active in the school privatization movement and in efforts to elect more conservatives to school boards. [13] [12] He has been on the advisory boards of Texans for Education Reform and Texans for Education Rights. [5] [12] A 2023 article in The Real Deal about Bennett's increased activities in politics and media said that he has "engaged in many political battles, and won quite a few", particularly relating to local issues in Texas. [12]
Bennett is the publisher of the Dallas Express, a conservative news website launched in 2021 in Dallas, Texas, that is unrelated to the African-American Dallas newspaper of the same name that published from 1892 to 1970. [14] [15] [12] 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. [16] [17] [8] Bennett announced his acquisition of the Dallas Express in February 2021. [14] [18] That year, Bennett sued The Dallas Weekly , alleging libel over its unfavorable descriptions of the new Dallas Express, but the case was dismissed on appeal in 2022 in Monacelli v. Bennett. [19] [12] [20]
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] [21] He also had established a cemetery in the pipeline's path to thwart it. [12]
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Bennett's salary by 20% and deferred 25% of his $2.3 million cash bonus for last year, public filings show