Barry Sternlicht Net Worth

Barry Sternlicht has an estimated net worth of $3 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Barry Sternlicht profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is down from a peak of $4.6 billion.

Barry Sternlicht is an American investor and business executive known for building Starwood Capital Group. He co-founded the firm with Bob Faith in 1991 after working at JMB Realty and earlier on Wall Street as an arbitrage trader. Starwood Capital focused on real estate at a time when many properties were being sold after the savings and loan crisis. Sternlicht later became a major name in hotels, real estate investing, and mortgage REITs.

His rise came through a series of major real estate and hotel deals. In 1994, his company bought Westin Hotels & Resorts in a $561 million partnership with Goldman Sachs. In 1995, he bought Hotel Investors Trust and became CEO. In 1997, his company acquired Sheraton Hotels and Resorts in a $13.3 billion deal. He later started the W hotel chain and also built Starwood Property Trust, while continuing to expand Starwood Capital into a very large real estate investor.

How Barry Sternlicht makes money

Sternlicht's wealth is tied mainly to private equity and real estate. He runs Starwood Capital Group, a firm that specializes in real estate investments. Forbes says Starwood Capital has $125 billion of gross assets under management, placing it among the biggest real estate investors in the world. He also serves as chairman of Starwood Property Trust, which Forbes describes as one of the biggest mortgage REITs. Those businesses are the core of his career in finance and property.

His career expanded beyond buying properties into building hotel brands and public market vehicles. After launching Starwood Capital in 1991, he went on to start the W hotel chain and lead Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide from 1995 to 2005. Since 2020, he has sponsored SPACs, including one that took Cano Health public in June 2021. In 2025, Starwood received approval to open a Dubai office as it planned to invest across the Gulf.

Barry Sternlicht's Forbes net worth

Forbes has tracked large moves in Sternlicht's fortune over time. It put his net worth at $3 billion in 2020, then $3.7 billion in 2021, $4.3 billion in 2022, and $4.6 billion in 2023. Those years matched his long-running position in private equity and real estate, including Starwood Capital and Starwood Property Trust. His business base stayed centered on property investing, hotels, and related finance, which remain the main drivers of his wealth.

The estimate then moved lower before edging back up. Forbes valued him at $3.8 billion in 2024 and $2.8 billion in 2025. In 2026, Forbes put him at $3.1 billion on its World's Billionaires List, while Forbes' real-time billionaires tracker showed $3 billion as of October 20, 2026. Forbes places him in Finance & Investments, and his money is still closely linked to private equity and large real estate holdings managed through Starwood Capital.