It’s been a bad year for the hospitality business.
For the past eight months, hotels have suffered low revenues and high vacancies as the coronavirus pandemic eliminated business travel and halted most tourism. Many hotels shut down — temporarily or permanently. In New York City, some empty hotels were converted into medical staff housing or homeless shelters.
Despite these challenges, one major hotel chain’s executives have managed to impress institutional investors through their handling of the Covid-19 crisis.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings was among the best-performing companies in this year’s All-America Executive Team, with the Hilton c-suite scoring first place in the gaming and lodging sector. It’s a step up for Hilton, which last year ranked second overall in its sector, behind Marriott International.
This year, Hilton’s executives won across all four major categories: CEO, CFO, Investor Relations Professional, and Investor Relations Program. Roughly 3,500 money managers, buy-side analysts, and sell-side researchers voted to determine the 2021 ranking, which highlights the top executives across 44 industry sectors.
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Other c-suites also prevailed through an immensely challenging year for their industries. These include the executive teams of Delta Air Lines, led by CEO Edward Bastian, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, headed by chief executive Frank Del Rio. Like Hilton, both companies swept their sectors, winning in the four main categories.
In fact, 23 companies swept their sectors this year, making up just over half of the winning firms across all 44 sectors. Other companies that accomplished this feat included JPMorgan Chase & Co. — which led the Banks/Large-Cap division — and Apple, the top-ranking firm in the IT Hardware & Electronics Manufacturing Services sector.
Biotechnology firm Amgen also dominated its sector, winning in the CEO and CFO categories as well as both IR rankings. The California company, led by chief executive Robert Bradway, is among the companies working to develop treatments for Covid-19. In September, Amgen announced a partnership with Eli Lilly to manufacture the pharmaceutical company’s antibody therapies.
Other sector-sweeping companies included Verizon Communications in the Telecommunications sector and S&P Global in the Business, Education & Professional Services sector.
