Then the 2007-08 recession hit, and the Hilton acquisition was seen as an albatross for Blackstone. Last year, Blackstone checked out of its Hilton investment with $14 billion in profit, setting a record in private-equity investment in real estate.
<person>Nassetta</person>, who is in his mid-50s, is plain-spoken and adept at staying on message. He relocated the company's headquarters from Beverly Hills, California to McLean, Virginia. When he's traveling, which he said is about 75 percent of the time, he never checks luggage at the airport.
He said he has mastered packing one or two suits into the same fold-over, hanging Tumi garment bag that he's used for decades. The company has a casual feel, he said, and at his own conferences he said he often sports jeans and woolen Allbirds shoes.
After a breakfast with reporters, <person>Nassetta</person> told ABC News why he doesn't worry about competition from Airbnb, how the company has protected itself from cyber thieves and what he says to hotel guests in elevators.

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