That spirit of innovation goes back to the Firm’s roots in the depths of the savings & loan crisis of the early 1990s. At that time, Chairman & CEO Barry Sternlicht founded Starwood Capital tocapitalize on the unique opportunity to acquire non-performing loans and real estate assets from the U.S. government-owned Resolution Trust Corp. By purchasing several thousand multifamily units at a significant discount to replacement cost—in distressed markets that he believed were poised for recovery—Mr. Sternlicht established an investment template that Starwood Capital continues to follow to this very day.