Starwood 2008 Annual Report Download - page 19

may send a letter to the Board of Directors, c/o the Corporate Secretary, 1111 Westchester Avenue, White Plains,
New York 10604 or online at www.hotethics.com. You should specify in the communication that you are a
stockholder or an interested party. If the correspondence contains complaints about Starwood’s accounting, internal
or auditing matters or directed to the non-management directors, the Corporate Secretary will forward that
correspondence to a member of the Audit Committee. If the correspondence concerns other matters, the Corporate
Secretary will forward the correspondence to the Director to whom it is addressed or otherwise as would be
appropriate under the circumstances, attempt to handle the inquiry directly (for example where it is a request for
information or a stock-related matter), or not forward the communication if it is primarily commercial in nature or
relates to an improper or irrelevant topic. At each regularly scheduled Board meeting, the Corporate Secretary or
his/her designee will present a summary of all such communications received since the last meeting that were not
forwarded and shall make those communications available to the Directors upon request. This policy is also posted
on the Company’s web site at www.starwoodhotels.com/corporate/investor_relations.html.
The Company indemnifies its Directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by law so that they will be
free from undue concern about personal liability in connection with their service to the Company. This is required
under the Company’s charter, and the Company has also signed agreements with each of those individuals
contractually obligating it to provide this indemnification to them.
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
Under the Company’s charter, each of the Company’s Directors is elected to serve until the next annual
meeting of stockholders and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. If a nominee is unavailable for
election, proxy holders and stockholders may vote for another nominee proposed by the Board or, as an alternative,
the Board may reduce the number of Directors to be elected at the meeting. Each nominee has agreed to serve on the
Board if elected. Set forth below is information as of February 28, 2009 regarding the nominees for election, which
has been confirmed by each of them for inclusion in this Proxy Statement.
Directors Nominated at the Annual Meeting will be Elected to Serve Until the 2010 Annual Meeting of
Stockholders and Until his or her Successor is Duly Elected and Qualifies
Frits van Paasschen, 48, has been Chief Executive Officer of the Company since September 2007. From
March 2005 until September 2007, he served as President and CEO of Molson Coors Brewing Company’s largest
division, Coors Brewing Company. Prior to joining Coors, from April 2004 until March 2005, Mr. van Paasschen
worked independently through FPaasschen Consulting and Mercator Investments, evaluating, proposing, and
negotiating private equity transactions. Prior thereto, Mr. van Paasschen spent seven years at Nike, Inc., most
recently as Corporate Vice President/General Manager, Europe, Middle East and Africa from 2000 to 2004. From
1995 to 1997, Mr. van Paasschen served as Vice President, Finance and Planning at Disney Consumer Products and
earlier in his career was a management consultant for eight years at McKinsey & Company and the Boston
Consulting Group. Mr. van Paasschen has been a Director of the Company since September 2007.
Bruce W. Duncan, 57, has been President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of First Industrial Realty
Trust, Inc. since January 2009, prior to which time he was a private investor since January 2006. From April to
September 2007, Mr. Duncan served as Chief Executive Officer of the Company on an interim basis. He also has
been a senior advisor to Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts & Co. from July 2008 to January 2009. From May 2005 to
December 2005, Mr. Duncan was Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of Equity Residential (“EQR”), a publicly
traded apartment company. From January 2003 to May 2005, he was President and Trustee of EQR. Mr. Duncan has
served as a Director of the Company since April 1999, and was a Trustee of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, a real estate
investment trust and former subsidiary of the Company (the “Trust”), since August 1995.
Adam M. Aron, 54, has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of World Leisure Partners, Inc., a leisure-
related consultancy, since 2006. From 1996 through 2006, Mr. Aron served as Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Vail Resorts, Inc., an owner and operator of ski resorts and hotels. Mr. Aron is a director of Norwegian
Cruise Line Limited and Prestige Cruise Holdings, Inc. Mr. Aron has been a Director of the Company since August
2006.
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