FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy launched *Update : terminated 9 Nov due to Sonder default*
Old Nov 11, 2025 | 9:49 pm
  #243  
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
My understanding is that Marriott gave them a relatively large loan (over $100,000,000) in addition to some smaller amount to pay for IT integration (which Sonder said ended up costing far more). I've been guessing that the word "default" in Sunday's Marriott statement refers to Sonder not making timely payments on the $100M+ loan.

I'm starting to wonder whether Marriott did the announcement on Sunday to surprise Sonder, which obviously wasn't ready to file for Chapter 7.

The stock price has been close to zero since midway through 2022.

One of the founders resigned as CEO and resigned from the board at the end of time of the Marriott deal. I would assume that the board forced him out.
without the benefit of all the information, this seems like an unwise business decision on Marriott’s part. Marriott will now likely never get paid anything back or get pennies on the dollar, while also experiencing an eroded reputation, what’s likely significant legal expenses and of course they now have far fewer available rooms. I just don’t see the upside for Marriott following this course of action.
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