Leland Pillsbury ’69

Leland C. “Lee” Pillsbury, Managing Director, Thayer Ventures

After graduating from Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, Lee spent 19 years at Marriott, rising to become an Executive Vice President and head of Lodging Strategy and Corporate Officer. During his six years as EVP, Marriott achieved a five fold increase in revenues and an eight fold increase in EBITA as the company rapidly embraced a multi-brand strategy and moved into time sharing.

Lee left Marriott in 1988 to launch Thayer Lodging Group, a hotel real estate private equity fund for institutional investors. During its 25+ years, Thayer Lodging’s funds achieved a 26.2% IRR, ranking it one of the most successful real estate funds. Thayer Lodging Group launched several companies, including TIG Global Internet Marketing, Thayer Insurance Group, EMC Venues, and PURE Rooms.  The company was sold to Brookfield Asset Management in 2015.

In 2004, Lee and Mary, with Teddy Zhang MMH ’97 formed Thayer China. They toured 18 of China’s provinces at the request of the Beijing Government to meet with local officials to promote the development of travel and tourism within China as a major employer and engine of economic growth.  Thayer China formed a joint venture with China’s Jin Jiang Group to build the first central reservations/global distribution system running in Mandarin.  Thayer China also formed joint ventures with other Chinese firms during this time, including the development of Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in Asia.  In 2010, Thayer Lodging Group partnered with Jin Jiang to take Interstate Hotels and Resorts (NYSE) private, tripling the company’s size to manage over 500 hotels worldwide before its sale in 2015.

In 2009, Lee partnered with two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to found Thayer Ventures. Thayer Ventures is now the largest venture capital firm in the early stage travel and technology space. Its portfolio companies include several industry leaders including Duetto Research, Uplift, Sonder, Redeem and Mews.

Today Lee serves as Chair of TLG Investment Partners.  TLG IP is a national real estate investment and development firm.  The company has developed over 3,000 single family and multifamily residential units in communities in Florida and Arizona and is actively investing in other real estate sectors including hotels. He has served on numerous company boards, both public and private. He is a member of the NSU Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders Hall of Fame.

Lee has been an active supporter of higher education.  He served for 2 years as the Rhodes Visiting Professor at Cornell University and has lectured in colleges and universities across the US and throughout Asia. He is the recipient the Schaffner Award from J.L Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and has been recognized by Penn State and the University of Denver among others.   A Presidential Counselor and Trustee Emeritus of Cornell University, Lee served on the Board of Trustees and was a member of the Executive Committee for 12 years.  He also served on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Nolan School of Hotel Administration and currently serves on the Leadership Council of the S.C Johnson College of Business. He was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Cornell in 2016.  Lee and Mary endowed the Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship at Cornell’s Nolan School of Hotel Management in 2006.

Lee and Mary have been married for over 50 years and reside in Fort Lauderdale Florida. They are avid boaters and pilots, and together are the first husband and wife pilot team to fly a single engine airplane across the North Atlantic. Lee is also an avid golfer. They have seven nieces and nephews who are graduates of Cornell University.