MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL INC MD

NOTE 7. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Guarantees

We issue guarantees to certain lenders and hotel owners, chiefly to obtain long-term management and franchise contracts. The guarantees generally have a stated maximum funding amount and a term ofthree toten years. The terms of guarantees to lenders generally require us to fund if cash flows from hotel operations are inadequate to cover annual debt service or to repay the loan at maturity. The terms of the guarantees to hotel owners generally require us to fund if the hotels do not attain specified levels of operating profit. Guarantee fundings to lenders and hotel owners are generally recoverable out of future hotel cash flows and/or proceeds from the sale or refinancing of hotels.

We present the maximum potential amount of our future guarantee fundings and the carrying amount of our liability for our debt service, operating profit, and other guarantees (excluding contingent purchase obligations) for which we are the primary obligor at year-end 2023 in the following table:

Our liability at year-end 2023 for guarantees for which we are the primary obligor is reflected in our Balance Sheets as $29 million of “Accrued expenses and other” and $75 million of “Other noncurrent liabilities.”

Our maximum potential guarantees listed in the preceding table include $62 million of operating profit guarantees that will not be in effect until the underlying properties open and we begin to operate the properties or certain other events occur.

In conjunction with financing obtained for specific projects or properties owned by us or entities in which we have an investment, we may provide industry standard indemnifications to the lender for loss, liability, or damage occurring as a result of the actions of the entity or our own actions.

Contingent Purchase Obligation

Sheraton Grand Chicago. In 2017, we granted the owner a one-time right to require us to purchase the leasehold interest in the land and the hotel for $300 million in cash (the “put option”). In the 2021 third quarter, we entered into an amendment with the owner to move the exercise period of the put option from the 2022 first half to the 2024 first half. In January 2024, the owner exercised the put option, and we exercised our option to purchase, at the same time the put transaction closes, the fee simple interest in the underlying land for an additional $200 million in cash, resulting in an expected total cash payment of approximately $500 million. The closing is expected to occur in the 2024 fourth quarter. We account for the put option as a guarantee, and our recorded liability was $300 million at year-end 2023 and 2022. The liability is reflected in our Balance Sheets as “Accrued expenses and other” at year-end 2023 and as “Other noncurrent liabilities” at year-end 2022.

We concluded that the entity that owns the Sheraton Grand Chicago hotel is a variable interest entity. We did not consolidate the entity because we do not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance. Our maximum exposure to loss related to the entity is equal to the difference between the purchase price and the fair value of the hotel at the time of closing, plus the maximum funding amount of an operating profit guarantee that we provided for the hotel.

Commitments

At year-end 2023, we had various purchase commitments for goods and services in the normal course of business, primarily for programs and services for which we are reimbursed by third-party owners, totaling $735 million. We expect to purchase goods and services subject to these commitments as follows: $385 million in 2024, $202 million in 2025, $85 million in 2026, and $63 million thereafter.

Letters of Credit

At year-end 2023, we had $129 million of letters of credit outstanding (all outside the Credit Facility, as defined in Note 9), most of which were for our self-insurance programs. Surety bonds issued as of year-end 2023 totaled $164 million, most of which state governments requested in connection with our self-insurance programs.

Starwood Data Security Incident

Description of Event

On November 30, 2018, we announced a data security incident involving unauthorized access to the Starwood reservations database (the “Data Security Incident”). Working with leading security experts, we determined that there was unauthorized access to the Starwood network since 2014 and that an unauthorized party had copied information from the Starwood reservations database and taken steps towards removing it. We discontinued use of the Starwood reservations database for business operations at the end of 2018.

Litigation, Claims, and Government Investigations

Following our announcement of the Data Security Incident, approximately 100 lawsuits were filed by consumers and others against us in U.S. federal, U.S. state and Canadian courts related to the incident. The plaintiffs in the cases that remain pending, who generally purport to represent various classes of consumers, generally claim to have been harmed by alleged actions and/or omissions by the Company in connection with the Data Security Incident and assert a variety of common law and statutory claims seeking monetary damages, injunctive relief, costs and attorneys’ fees, and other related relief. The active U.S. cases are consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (the “District Court”), pursuant to orders of the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (the “MDL”). The District Court granted in part and denied in part class certification of various U.S. groups of consumers. In August 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (the “Fourth Circuit”) vacated the District Court’s class certification decision because the District Court failed to first consider the effect of a class-action waiver signed by all putative class members. On remand, after briefing, the District Court issued an order reinstating the same classes that had previously been certified. We promptly petitioned the Fourth Circuit, seeking leave to appeal that ruling. On January 18, 2024, the Fourth Circuit granted that petition, and we are preparing to file such appeal. A case brought by the City of Chicago (which is consolidated in the MDL proceeding) also remains pending. The Canadian cases have effectively been consolidated into a single case in the province of Ontario. We dispute the allegations in these lawsuits and are vigorously defending against such claims.

In addition, various U.S. federal, U.S. state and foreign governmental authorities made inquiries, opened investigations, or requested information and/or documents related to the Data Security Incident and related matters. Although some of these matters have been resolved or no longer appear to be active, some remain open. We are in discussions with the Attorney General offices from 49 states and the District of Columbia and the Federal Trade Commission. Based on the ongoing discussions, we believe it is probable that we will incur losses, and as of December 31, 2023, we have an accrual for an estimated loss contingency, which is not material to our Financial Statements.

While we believe it is reasonably possible that we may incur losses in excess of the amounts recorded associated with the above described MDL proceedings and regulatory investigations related to the Data Security Incident, it is not possible to reasonably estimate the amount of such losses or range of loss that might result from adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties or other resolution of these proceedings and investigations based on: (1) in the case of the above described MDL proceedings, the current stage of these proceedings, the absence of specific allegations as to alleged damages, the uncertainty as to the certification of a class or classes and the size of any certified class, and the lack of resolution of significant factual and legal issues; and (2) in the case of the above described regulatory investigations, the lack of resolution with the Federal Trade Commission and the state Attorneys General.