In 2002, Sam Nazarian Founded sbe to revolutionize the lifestyle hospitality space. With an uncompromising entrepreneurial instinct, Sam Nazarian is always ahead of the curve in creating and defining consumer trends and global lifestyle hospitality experiences. His unmatched career began with the founding of sbe Entertainment Group in 2002, which has turned into one of the most successful hospitality companies with sought-after lifestyle hospitality brands around the world including SLS Hotels, Hyde Lounge and Mondrian Hotels.

In February 2020, Sam launched C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), in partnership with Accor and Simon Property Group. Additional investors include Brookfield Global Asset Management, REEF Technology and participation from Egon Durban and Greg Mondre, Managing Partners and Co-CEOs of Silver Lake Partners, along with Dean Adler, Co-Founder of real estate investment firm Lubert-Adler. Sam’s vision for C3 is to re-imagine the food industry by introducing the world to a revolutionary way to approach food halls, ghost kitchens and mobile delivery via world-class culinary talent and technology. The first company of its kind, C3 is now the world’s fastest growing global food tech platform centered on digital kitchens and IP.

In 2020, Nazarian sold the remaining 50% stake of sbe’s hotel platform to Accor Hotels to focus on C3’s global food-tech platform and full ownership of sbe’s Disruptive Restaurant Group. The $850 million cash and asset swap deal was groundbreaking for the lifestyle hotel category. Seeing an opportunity to expand his expertise into the culinary world, Sam added Disruptive Restaurant Group (DRG) to his entrepreneurial roster, which soon became the leading restaurant and nightlife group devoted to visionary and award-winning culinary experiences, with elevated concepts like Katsuya, S Bar, Life Rooftop in NYC, and the newly opened Sa’Moto and Hyde Sunset Kitchen + Cocktails.