Raised in Los Angeles, Sam Nazarian brings entrepreneurial instinct, immeasurable drive and considerable business experience to his role as founder and CEO of SBE. Nazarian balances and directs SBE's operating groups - which include its hotel, restaurant, nightlife, and real estate divisions; as well as Bolthouse Productions and Element Films - in all phases of acquisition, development and management.

Nazarian's first entrepreneurial venture was in 1998, when he founded Platinum Wireless, a telecommunications business specializing in the distribution of Nextel software. Within one year of its founding, Nazarian guided Platinum Wireless to prominence, and earned ranking as the number one Nextel distributor in Southern California.

In 2001, he began his development career by establishing 3Wall Development and successfully diversifying his family's assets into real estate holdings across virtually all sectors of the real estate market. Under his watch, 3Wall secured partnerships with the country's leading developers and investors, quickly becoming one of Southern California's largest owners of multi-family housing. This hands-on experience, combined with a razor-sharp vision, provided the catalyst for his creation of SBE in 2002, parlaying his skills and growing assets into an unparalleled and diverse portfolio.

From SBE's first nightclub, Shelter, in 2003 which helped spur the rebirth of the Sunset Strip, to today's collection of over 10 hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and lounges which have reshaped the landscape of Los Angeles and beyond, Nazarian has consistently sought to raise the bar in hospitality, design and innovation.

His singular vision and drive have attracted an experienced corporate team of executives to SBE from the country's most acclaimed brands and corporations, accepting the exciting challenge of redefining their industries for a new generation. In just five years, the company has grown from an initial handful of like-minded people to its current roster of over 2,000 employees. To further SBE's creative endeavors, Nazarian has personally secured exclusive partnerships with such visionaries as Philippe Starck and chefs Katsuya Uechi, José Andrés and Michael Mina. His partnership with Katsuya and Starck has produced one of the most sought-after restaurants in Los Angeles, Katsuya, which launched in Brentwood in 2006 and was followed by Hollywood in October 2007 and Glendale in May 2008, with plans for a downtown Los Angeles location to open this Fall. Foxtail, SBE's newest restaurant featuring rising star Chef Antonia Lofaso, added to this impressive roster in March 2008; and in the Fall, the Starck-designed XIV, in partnership with Chef Michael Mina, will debut on the Sunset Strip. Nazarian's business savvy and foresight have also attracted Wall Street's interest and active participation from a "who's who" of institutions including Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Stockbridge Real Estate Funds.

In 2007, SBE reached new heights in its remarkable trajectory with the acquisition of Las Vegas' legendary Sahara Hotel & Casino, in partnership with Stockbridge, adding it to the company's growing portfolio. Nazarian played a leading role in the acquisition of the property as well as in the creation of the company's dynamic new Starck-designed hotel brand, SLS Hotels, which launches in Fall 2008 with the opening of SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills. Under Starck's exclusive 15-year design agreement with SBE, the acclaimed designer will also lend his talents to the other hotel properties in the SBE portfolio, the Ritz Plaza in Miami's South Beach, slated to reopen in 2009, and the Sahara, scheduled for complete redevelopment by 2011.

Nazarian has personally invested in several other boutique hotels and flagged properties, among them Viceroy hotels and resorts in Santa Monica, Palm Springs and Anguilla; Chamberlain West Hollywood; Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica; Sheraton Gateway LAX, and Hilton Garden Inns in resort locales in Southern California and Florida.

Additionally, Nazarian and SBE have earned a reputation for consistently delivering the very best in high-end nightlife experiences. In 2006 the white-hot Hyde Lounge and popular Area nightclub opened their doors and most recently, S Bar debuted with great fanfare among the Hollywood set.

Nazarian's handprint is equally evident in his role as a film producer, via SBE's Element Films, a fully integrated film company with the rare ability to develop, finance, produce, distribute and market its own innovative film titles. Nazarian has executive produced such celebrated projects as Down in the Valley (Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse); Five Fingers (Laurence Fishburne, Ryan Phillippe); Waiting (Ryan Reynolds, Ana Faris, Luis Guzman; and Mr. Brooks (Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, William Hurt). In May 2006, Element Films signed a nine-picture distribution agreement with Lionsgate and in November 2006, Element secured a $220 million loan facility to cover its prints and advertising (P&A) budgets.

In 2006, Nazarian was the youngest executive to be named one of the "Top 100 Most Powerful People in Southern California" by West, the Los Angeles Times' Magazine and was named among "The Influentials" in Los Angeles magazine. He has also been featured and quoted in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, People, Fortune, W, Variety and The New Yorker. He is also a member of the Southern California Institute of Architecture's Board of Directors, and generous supporter of the Beverly Hills Education Foundation.

Raised in Los Angeles, Nazarian studied at New York University and the University of Southern California. He currently resides in Beverly Hills.