Richard Warnick is President and founder of Warnick + Company, a consulting, investment banking, development, and asset management firm that serves as an advisor to many of the world’s leading hotel and real estate companies, financial institutions, and government agencies. The company has offices in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.

Rich has been involved in virtually every aspect of the hotel industry including operations, development, finance, brokerage, and brand and business strategy. Before forming Warnick + Company, Rich was a principal with Laventhol & Horwath (L&H), an international accounting firm known for its expertise in the hospitality and real estate industries. Prior to joining L&H, he was a development executive for two international hotel companies. He began his career in hotel operations and held senior level management positions with several noted hotel management companies.

Rich is also a partner in Montage Hotels & Resorts, a luxury hotel company founded in January 2002. He also serves as an advisor to the company and has represented Montage in acquisitions and development deals worth well over $2 billion in total asset value. The company opened its flagship property, the Montage Resort & Spa Laguna Beach, in Laguna Beach, California in 2003 and opened its second property, the Montage Beverly Hills, in Beverly Hills, California in 2008. Numerous other Montage properties are under development including the Montage Deer Valley ski resort and hotel in Deer Valley, Utah, which will open in December 2010.

Rich is a member and former co-chair of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Hotel Development Council. He is past President, Chairman Emeritus, and a current board member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), an organization comprised of prominent hospitality consultants from around the world. He is also a member of the Hotel Asset Manager’s Association.

Rich has written numerous articles on hospitality industry issues and is a frequent speaker/lecturer at industry conferences and universities. He was a contributing editor to Resort Development, Second Edition, published in 2008 as part of the "ULI Development Handbook Series." He conceived and was a co-author of ISHC's inaugural, ground-breaking study of lodging industry capital expenditures titled "CapEx – A Study of Capital Expenditures in the U. S. Hotel Industry." He also authored "The Resort Report - A Benchmark Study of Resort Hotels in North America, Hawaii, and the Caribbean."