Marriott International, Inc., a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (MAR), is a leading global hospitality company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Founded in 1927 by J. Willard and Alice Marriott as a humble root beer stand in Washington, D.C., the company evolved from its Hot Shoppes restaurant chain into the lodging industry in 1957 with the opening of the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel. Marriott International emerged as a separate entity in 1993 following a split from Marriott Corporation. Today, Marriott operates, franchises, and licenses a diverse portfolio of over 30 hotel and timeshare brands, encompassing more than 9,000 properties with nearly 1.6 million rooms across 141 countries and territories. The company boasts a global workforce of over 411,000 employees and provides a wide range of hospitality services, including hotel reservations, timeshare vacations, and loyalty programs like Marriott Bonvoy.