Richard C. Kessler was just 23 and fresh out of college when he helped to found Days Inns of America in 1970. Only six years later, he became the chain’s president, CEO, and chairman.

He held those titles until the company was sold in 1984, at which time he founded the Kessler Enterprise, which now owns and operates a dozen luxury hotels in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Colorado. In 2010, in association with Bill Marriott, Jr., he formed Marriott’s Autograph Collection, and he is now its largest American franchise operator.

Read full article by Margie Goldsmith (Business Jet Traveler)