Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> May 20, 2014

Interview with the Co-CEO: Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust (SWAY)

Beasley, Gary M.
Gary M. Beasley serves as a member of the board of trustees and a Co-Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust, a leading single-family REIT that is externally managed by SWAY Management LLC, whose consumer-facing brand is Waypoint Homes. He has served as the President and CEO of the Waypoint manager since January 2013, and was a managing director of the Waypoint manager from December 2011 to January 2013. Previously, he served as an advisory board member to the Waypoint manager from March 2009 to December 2011, when he joined the Waypoint manager as a managing director. Prior to joining the Waypoint manager, Mr. Beasley served as both an operating executive and principal investor across a wide range of industries, including hospitality, real estate, consumer Internet and clean tech. As a partner at Geolo Capital, the private equity arm of the John A. Pritzker family, Mr. Beasley managed the firm's acquisition of a controlling interest in boutique hotel chain Joie de Vivre Hospitality, or JDV, in mid-2010 and served as JDV's Chief Executive Officer until JDV's merger with Thompson Hotels in October 2011. Prior to joining Geolo Capital in the fall of 2009, Mr. Beasley served as Chief Executive Officer of GreenVolts, an award-winning solar technology startup. Between 2001 and 2007, Mr. Beasley served as Chief Financial Officer of ZipRealty, Inc., where he led the Internet-based residential brokerage company through its national expansion and initial public offering before eventually being named its President. Prior to joining ZipRealty, Inc., Mr. Beasley spent six years with KSL Resorts, then a portfolio company of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. — now KKR & Co. L.P. — where he was instrumental in acquiring and integrating over $800 million of hotel and resort properties. Earlier in his career, Mr. Beasley worked for leading real estate industry firms LaSalle Partners and Security Capital Group. Mr. Beasley received a B.A. in economics from Northwestern University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Mr. Beasley has extensive expertise in the single-family rental sector and familiarity with real estate markets, growth companies and innovative technologies. Profile
TWST: To start off, would you introduce our readers to Starwood Waypoint with a historical background of the company?

Mr. Beasley: Starwood Waypoint was created subsequent to the merger