{"id":2144,"date":"2023-08-14T17:56:31","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T21:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/nolan\/2023\/08\/14\/speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T18:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:37:30","slug":"speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/nolan\/2023\/08\/14\/speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker: Michael Gross ’97, CEO – Knotel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<\/head>

Company: \n
Time: – \n
Where:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lecture video<\/a>\n
Since April 2021, Michael Gross has been the CEO of Knotel, a leading amenitized, flexible office provider in North America and Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to that, Michael joined WeWork in March 2013 as CFO, was responsible for capital raising and strategic partnerships, and launched the company’s enterprise sales offering.  In 2015, Michael became Vice Chairman of WeWork and remained in that role through October 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From March 2011 to August 2013, Michael was the CEO of Morgans Hotel Group (MHGC – formerly Ian Shrager Hotels), a publicly held boutique hotel company.  In this role, Michael oversaw the Company’s transition from a capital intense hotel development company to an asset light, branded lifestyle management business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008, Michael partnered with the private equity firm The Yucaipa Companies, where he led an investment into Morgans Hotel Group in 2009, at which time he joined the company’s Board of Directors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 2001 to 2007, Michael worked in investment roles at SAC Capital Advisors and Prentice Capital, with a focus on long-short equities and direct investments in public and private retail, consumer and hospitality companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 1998 to 2001, Michael worked at Granite Partners, Salomon Smith Barney and Lehman Brothers, in research analyst roles covering real estate, online media and E-Commerce companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration in 1997.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This CEO transforms flexible workspace into a modern hospitality solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-2144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ddls","tag-speakers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpeaker: Michael Gross '97, CEO - Knotel - Nolan School of Hotel Administration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Speaker: Michael Gross '97, CEO - Knotel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This CEO transforms flexible workspace into a modern hospitality solution.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/nolan\/2023\/08\/14\/speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nolan School of Hotel Administration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-14T21:56:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:37:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/Michael-Gross-website-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"migrated\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"migrated\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/nolan\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/14\\\/speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/nolan\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/14\\\/speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"migrated\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/nolan\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0ba1cd4d0b2dda2771c452ed59736e6b\"},\"headline\":\"Speaker: Michael Gross ’97, CEO – Knotel\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-14T21:56:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-07T22:37:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/nolan\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/14\\\/speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":226,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/nolan\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/14\\\/speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Michael-Gross-website-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Speakers\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/nolan\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/14\\\/speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.cornell.edu\\\/nolan\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/14\\\/speaker-michael-gross-97-ceo-knotel\\\/\",\"name\":\"Speaker: Michael Gross '97, CEO - 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