Business — 07 December 2010

sam nazarianSam Nazarian (Persian: سام نظریان, born 1975 in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian entrepreneur. Nazarian is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SBE, a Los Angeles based luxury hospitality, real estate development and lifestyle company which includes hotel, restaurant, nightlife, and real estate divisions.[1] As a real estate financier, hotelier, and restaurateur, Nazarian owns and operates several award-winning hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs, located throughout Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Miami. In 2006, Nazarian was honored as the youngest executive to be named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful People in Southern California” by West[2], the Los Angeles Times’ Magazine and was named among “The Influentials” in Los Angeles magazine.[3] He has also been featured and quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, People, Fortune, W, Variety and The New Yorker.

Nazarian is also a member of the Southern California Institute of Architecture’s Board of Directors,[4], serves on the Los Angeles World Airports’ Board of Airport Commissioners [5],[6] and is a supporter of the Beverly Hills Education Foundation.

Early life

Born in Tehran, Iran to Iranian parents[7], Nazarian’s family immigrated to the United States following the Iranian Revolution. Son of Qualcomm co-founder Younes Nazarian, Sam was raised in Los Angeles, California. Sam attended Beverly Hills High School and later studied at New York University and the University of Southern California.

Nazarian’s first entrepreneurial venture was in 1998, when he founded Platinum Wireless, a telecommunications business specializing in the distribution of Nextel software. Within one year of its founding, Platinum Wireless was the number one Nextel distributor in Southern California. Nazarian then entered the world of real estate by diversifying his family’s assets into real estate holdings, beginning with the establishment of 3Wall Development in 1999. Under Sam’s guidance 3Wall quickly became one of Southern California’s largest owners of multi-family housing.

Hospitality

Hotels

In 2008, Nazarian launched the Philippe Starck-designed hotel brand, SLS Hotels, with the unveiling of the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills. Following the successful launch of SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, Nazarian has continued to bolster SBE’s hotel portfolio with the acquisitions of Las Vegas’ legendary Sahara Hotel & Casino, the Ritz Plaza Hotel in Miami’s South Beach and the Four Points by Sheraton at Los Angeles International Airport. Under Philippe Starck’s exclusive 15-year partnership with SBE, the acclaimed designer will lend his talents to hotel properties spanning the SBE portfolio.

Nazarian has personally invested in several other boutique hotels and flagged properties, among them Viceroy Hotels and Resorts in Santa Monica, Palm Springs and Anguilla; Chamberlain West Hollywood; Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica; Sheraton Gateway LAX, and Hilton Garden Inns located in Southern California and Florida resort locales.

In October 2010 SBE opened The Redbury Hotel in Hollywood with a Grand Opening attended by the Mayor of Los Angeles and a performance with Camp Freddy and Macy Gray. [8]

Restaurants

To create SBE’s award-winning restaurant portfolio, Nazarian has aligned with some of the world’s most renowned culinary talents, such as chefs José Andrés, Michael Mina and Katsuya Uechi. What has resulted is a collection of the most talked about dining experiences in the U.S., including Michael Mina’s XIV, José Andrés’ The BAZAAR at the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills, the four Katsuya locations in Brentwood, Hollywood, L.A. Live and Glendale and the iconic Gladstone’s Malibu. SBE’s Redbury Hotel features a restaurant called Cleo[9] that features Mediterranean cuisine.

Nightclubs & Lounges

Under Nazarian’s leadership, SBE has earned a reputation for consistently delivering high-end nightlife experiences. In 2006 the uber-exclusive Hyde Lounge opened on the famed Sunset Strip and today SBE has added new Hyde locations at Staples Center and Mammoth Mountain. Additionally, SBE’s nightlife portfolio includes INDUSTRY, MI-6, Abbey Food & Bar and THE COLONY, the new, highly anticipated Hollywood nightlife experience, opened in May 2010 [10]. These venues continue to see a high level of popularity and celebrity patronage, as well as being frequently visited by the characters of HBO‘s Entourage.[11] Nazarian made an appearance as himself greeting the main characters of the show in the episode “No Cannes Do“.

Producer

Nazarian has served as executive producer for the 2005 comedy Waiting…(Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Luis Guzman) , 2005’s Down in the Valley (Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse) and 2006’s Five Fingers (Laurence Fishburne, Ryan Philippe) and The Last Time, 2007’s Pride (Terrance Howard) and Mr. Brooks (Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, William Hurt) and 2008’s College.

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