Ted Teng was appointed president and chief executive officer of The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., in September 2008. In his position, Mr. Teng oversees and directs all aspects of business strategy, operations, and performance growth for the premier luxury hospitality organization. The company, which represents over 450 predominantly independent hotels, provides global sales, marketing and distribution services through an expansive network of worldwide sales and reservations offices. Based at the company's headquarters in New York, Mr. Teng also holds a seat on the board of directors.
Since joining The Leading Hotels of the World, Mr. Teng has developed and begun executing a detailed five-year business plan which focuses on strengthening the brand and driving increased revenue to member hotels. Within the plan, he has also asserted the crucial importance of dedication and adherence to quality, in the firm belief that by elevating the overall level among the collection, all hotels will benefit. Taking as his motto "Preserve, Enhance, and Invent," he seeks to honor and uphold the more than eight-decade-old traditions of the organization, while innovating to achieve greater strength and success in the future.
Immediately before joining the organization, Mr. Teng was the principal and chief executive officer of Prime Opus Partners, LP, a hotel investment and operations firm he founded in 2006. In 2005/2006, he served as executive-in-residence and was actively involved through various volunteer leadership roles at the School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University.
Throughout his 30-year career in the hospitality industry, Mr. Teng has been responsible for the growth of some of the most prominent brands in the world. For five years he was president, chief operating officer of Wyndham International, Inc., where he oversaw the core branded hotel products, as well as the company's third-party management operations, comprised of over 200 properties generating USD 2.5 billion in annual revenue.
He also served as president, Asia-Pacific, for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., immediately following the merger of Starwood Lodging, Westin, and Sheraton. He oversaw the integration of that company's branded hotel operations in the region, and was responsible for the operating and financial performance of over 70 hotels and resorts in 17 countries. New projects executed during Mr. Teng's tenure included the St. Regis in Shanghai, the first international W in Sydney, the highest quality Four Points Hotel in Sydney, the Sheraton in Sapporo, and the Westin Kyoto.
Prior to the Starwood merger, Mr. Teng was the president of Asia-Pacific for Westin Hotels, where he was credited with having achieved significant growth in the number of hotels, including the launch of notable new flagships in Sydney, Melbourne, Guam, Kuala Lumpur, Awaji Island, Taipei, and Shanghai. Before coming to Westin, he was with ITT Sheraton, where he served for 14 years in a variety of senior and strategic capacities in operations, finance and development in North America, Hawaii and Asia. Most notably, Mr. Teng successfully negotiated the first ITT Sheraton equity investment in China in a multi-use project that included today's St. Regis Beijing.
Ted Teng is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. He has an MBA from the University of Hawaii. Born in Shanghai, China, he grew up in Hong Kong and emigrated to the U.S. at age 13. He became an U.S. citizen at age 18.
That's one thing I find about the MBA education, particularly the elite universities. At that level, you're dealing with people with the same type of intellect, same type of motivation, similar background. It's very easy to work with people like that but when you come out and run a business particu...(Full transcript available to logged in subscribers.).
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