Marriott CEO on why you have to defend both DEI and ICE’s right to a hotel room: Dictating values is a ‘bad place for the country’

When Tony Capuano’s daughter called to tell him he was going viral on Tik Tok, he knew exactly why. “I pray the only time in my life that my daughter calls me and says, ‘Dad, you’re viral on Tik Tok’ came from this conference,” the Marriott International CEO said, speaking with Fortune at the Great Place to Work For All Summit in Las Vegas. He was referring to an appearance in 2025 at the same annual event, which came just days after President Trump signed an executive order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the federal government. In an environment where many corporate leaders were going quiet on DEI, Capuano said Marriott welcomed all and created opportunity for all. The clip spread quickly. The thank-you notes poured in. Now, roughly a year later, he told Fortune that nothing has changed. “Just strengthening our resolve,” he said, “around living those core values and staying true to who we are.” He said it’s not different from what his friend Chris Nassetta, the President and CEO of Hilton Worldwide, recently experienced at Hilton, when a front-desk agent at a franchised hotel refused service to an ICE agent. “I think it’s a bad place for the country” to refuse hospitality to people you disagree with. “You don’t want me deciding, ‘I like your point of view, so you’re welcome at my hotel. I don’t like your point of view, so you should go elsewhere.’ That’s just not what we should be doing.” (Capuano shared that he is on a group chat with rivals including Nassett and Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian and the hospitality CEOs always enjoy socializing, a fact confirmed to Fortune by Hoplamazian in a separate conversation.) For the Marriott CEO, a commitment to inclusion isn’t a diversity initiative that can be walked back under political pressure—it’s a founding principle that predates the current controversy