Sonder Holdings appointed Michael Hughes as chief financial officer, effective immediately. Hughes was most recently the chief financial officer of Spirit Realty Capital, a real estate investment trust, where he helped lead the organization’s multiyear strategic transformation and subsequent $9.3 billion sale to Realty Income Corp.
Before that, Hughes served in various leadership roles, including as chief financial officer, at FelCor Lodging Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust focused on the upper-upscale sector in the hospitality industry. He also held multiple roles within the finance department of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, including as vice president of corporate finance. Hughes holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Society of Dallas.
“I am thrilled to have Michael join Sonder as our next CFO," Francis Davidson, co-founder and CEO of Sonder, said in a statement. "Michael comes to us with significant experience implementing business transformations and driving operational discipline from his leadership roles at companies in our sector. Our integration efforts with Marriott International are progressing very well and with the recent actions we have taken to significantly strengthen our balance sheet, Michael’s proven expertise will be immediately additive to the work we are doing to unlock opportunities to advance our core value drivers and generate increased revenue and cost efficiency. I also want to thank our entire finance team for their hard work during this interim period to ensure this transition is a success.”
“I am excited by the opportunity to join such a unique and innovative brand," Hughes said. "I look forward to working closely with Francis and the team to help advance the important initiatives underway and drive greater value for all our stakeholders.”