With his advanced degree from JWU, Siddharth Mobar ’01 MBA was able to take increasing responsibility within his family’s hotel business, rising to the position of vice chairman and CEO of Arch Millennium Corporation USA, and President and CEO of Arch European Holdings. In this capacity, Mobar handles acquisitions, franchise negotiations, valuations, operations and hotel finance for a string of properties that include the Marriott, Doubletree, Hilton, and Sheraton brand names, among others.
Despite the complexities of managing an international corporation, Mobar recalls the advice his family always gave him, “Think out of the box, and do something different from everyone else.” With his expertise in the hospitality industry — and knowledge that hotel franchises perform well in Asia — Mobar approached the owners of Planet Hollywood with a plan to open a string of properties in his native India. Successfully outbidding five other companies for the rights, Mobar secured a license in 2005 to open 14 hotels and five stand-alone Planet Hollywood restaurants, plus an additional license for the country of Switzerland, becoming the brand’s largest franchisee in the world. Today, Mobar is traveling extensively to India, with his first two hotel properties scheduled to open in 2009.