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Nick Bollettieri
Tennis Coach
“Michael Ryan and I met at the 2002 U.S. Open tennis tournament. It did not take long to see that he was a family man and a motivated businessman who has a deep passion for the game of tennis! I am currently customizing the tennis program for Mike at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.
While I have only worked with Mike on The Ritz-Carlton project – an enormous project to conceptualize and develop – he is obviously very open to new ideas and is committed to developing a tennis program that will be the best of the best!
Mike is obviously a visionary with high expectations of others and of himself. He is fearless when it comes to making his dreams a reality, a characteristic that I have found to be an enormous asset in my field. Mike comes across as a man who is very sure of himself, and this is the strength he has when first meeting people.
I don’t know how others in business might perceive him and frankly, I don’t care. He comes across to me as a real person and that is why I agreed to be part of the group in Grand Cayman.”
Simon Cooper
President and COO, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C.
“I have known Michael Ryan for three years in business related to The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman project. My impression is that he is very focused on bringing the project to fruition no matter how challenging the business and physical environment. He is passionate in pursuit of his vision, with a personal commitment to the project and everyone associated with it.”
Robert Livingston
Washington D.C. Attorney
Robert Livingston, a former criminal prosecutor and U.S. Congressman for 22 years and now Washington lobbyist, met Michael Ryan approximately five years ago when they were introduced by a mutual friend in Costa Rica. “He needed some help trying to persuade the government to follow through with his effort to buy some land. Later, he introduced me to folks in the Cayman Islands and now we represent them in Washington,” Livingstone said.
Describing Ryan as sophisticated, well educated and energetic, Livingston said, “He’s one of the brightest young people I know. He’s a very strong family man. He protects his wife and family. He’s energetic and community minded. He’s a talented guy.”
Commenting on Ryan’s skills in business, Livingston added, “I think he’s a great businessman; I’ve always been impressed with him. He’s always been forthright, totally above board with me. He’s a great people person, very impressive. He’s probably a very good salesman and I don’t mean that in the pejorative sense. He pays great attention to detail. He has his head on his shoulders in my opinion. I’ve met a lot of people in my time and Mike Ryan is one of the most impressive people I’ve met.”
Jean Cohen
Vice President and General Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman
Jean Cohen has known Michael Ryan since her company joined Ryan in developing the resort. “As a senior leader with Ritz-Carlton, I’ve known Michael on a business level for 18 months. I really got to know him when I went to Grand Cayman full time,” she said.
“I find Michael to be a visionary, a really big thinker. He understands the big picture very quickly. He’s a passionate leader; he has an extraordinary work ethic, doing whatever has to be done to drive his project forward. He is straightforward, businesslike, tenacious and energetic. No obstacle is too big for him. He’s just unflappable.”
As an example of his character, Cohen cited Ryan’s response to Hurricane Ivan that devastated the Cayman Islands last year. Cohen was off-island when the storm hit and was desperate to care for her staff. “We had to evacuate our people. I called Michael to see if he could do anything. ‘I’ve just arranged for a 737 to take them out,’ he said. Those were my people he was talking about. These were not Michael’s people; they reported to me. He somehow commandeered buses to get them to the airport tarmac. He went into the departure area and told all those waiting that he had empty 10 seats and asked if anyone wanted to leave. He told them that women and children should go first. They (her staff and the residents he helped) would do anything for him now.”
“During difficult times you tend to see someone’s character. He has very strong moral fiber,” Cohen added. He also turned the hurricane into an opportunity to improve the resort project, she said. “After the hurricane, he maintained a positive attitude and his optimism. He didn’t waver for a second. His approach was ‘It’s not every day you get an opportunity to rethink the project.’ He has positive drive around the clock.”
Cohen observed that Ryan’s determination to make The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman the best possible resort led him to take every step necessary, including many that were not required. “He has spent millions extra to make it the best,” she said.
“After more than 30 years in business, I can pretty much pick and choose my projects and the people I want to work with. It’s truly a pleasure to be on this project and to be affiliated with Michael Ryan.”
Jason McCoy
President, Greg Norman Golf Course Design
Jason McCoy has known Michael Ryan for “six or seven years,” he says. We were working with him on a project in Costa Rica.” He describes his relationship with Ryan as “great friends. I can call him up and say ‘this needs to be resolved,’ and Mike will take care of it, and the reverse is true, too. He’ll call me up with a problem and I’ll take care of it. He’s a very straight shooter.”
As an example of Ryan’s tenacity and unwillingness to settle for anything but the very best, McCoy describes a media conference in New York for which Ryan assembled all his very high profile partners in The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman project. They included McCoy’s boss, Greg Norman, Nick Bollettieri, the renowned tennis coach to the stars, Jean-Michael Cousteau, Eric Ripert, owner and chef at Le Bernardin, New York’s top-rated restaurant, the owner of La Prairie Spa and top executives at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. “It’s a great tribute to him that he got all those people in the same room at the same time. It’s unbelievable to think that Mike did that. He has pulled off some stuff I didn’t think anyone could pull off.”
Commenting on his character and business skills, McCoy said, “I would say Mike is all about quality and style. He wants the best for everything he does.”
Describing his company’s involvement in the Grand Cayman project, he and Norman were tremendously impressed. Greg Norman said of the project, “We’re even doing the construction on the course, which is something we almost never do. We think enough of it that we’re making it a signature Greg Norman course, even though it’s only nine holes.”
Forbes Morton
Boston Banking Executive
Forbes Morton has known Michael Ryan for 35 years. “We’ve known each other since grade school. We played on many sports teams together, went to university together and have been climbing partners. Our families get together two or three times a year,” he said.
As a businessman, Ryan, according to Morton, is “entrepreneurial, decisive. He rises to the challenge and has very strong leadership skills. Mike is profit driven while at the same time delivering a quality product, creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
As someone to do business with, Ryan is “bright, unconventional, quick-witted, humorous and loyal. In short, multi-dimensional. His greatest strengths are being strong-willed, focused, empathetic, and driven to succeed,” according to Morton.
Donn Davis
CEO, Exclusive Resorts
Donn Davis and Michael Ryan have known one another for almost two years. “We met when a company I am CEO of, Exclusive Resorts, was starting to look to buy into high-end development projects. I have met personally with Mike many times over this time and consider him a trusted business colleague. He is one of Exclusive Resorts’ development partners and we would do business with him again in his next phase or his next project.”
Describing Ryan as an “excellent developer,” Davis says, “He is passionate, tenacious and determined to deliver excellence in both his hospitality product and his real estate product. He has vision to create significant, valuable and lasting developments. He is both creative and bottom line oriented, which allows Mike to successfully ‘connect the dots’ on large projects.”
“Mike is a pioneer, one of the few who understands that consumers who buy real estate must be your first priority and you must ‘super-serve’ them. That is not a mindset that traditional hospitality companies have,” he added.
Thomas Evans
Investment Banker
Thomas Evans has known Michael Ryan since 1993. “He engaged my firm, East-West Financial Services Ltd., as the investment banker to arrange long-term project financing for a Sonesta Hotel he was building on his large mixed use property on the North Pacific coast of Costa Rica. We have had a very strong business association ever since. East-West was also engaged as the investment banker for The Ritz-Carton, Grand Cayman project.
“Mike has real vision as a developer and, I believe, is on the cutting edge of where his type of product is headed. He is constantly fine tuning the real estate product he offers his client and customer,” Evans added.
Describing Ryan’s strengths as “very strong marketing and sales skills, vision, drive and perseverance through all types of business adversity,” Evans said, “I believe a lot of off-shore developers and hotel industry types admire and respect Mike for the risks he’s taken. In many ways he is a pioneer in his business product, the branded serviced hotel condo product, which now has been enthusiastically adopted and widely imitated throughout North America.”
Anthony Travers
Longtime resident of Grand Cayman
Speaking of Michael Ryan, whom he has known since Ryan moved to the Cayman Islands, Anthony Travers said, “When we see the huge infrastructure development of tourist destinations like Dubai, and the strides made by close competitors such as the Turks & Caicos Islands and Cuba, it seems clear that without capital commitment of The Ritz-Carlton and the perseverance of Mike Ryan, the long term tourist sector in the Cayman Islands would soon be uncompetitive.
“It does require a great deal of vision, entrepreneurial skill and business acumen to undertake a project of this quality,” Travers said, referring to The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. “There are certainly stylistic arguments for and against the project but the fact of the matter is that those who criticize Mike are looking increasingly out of touch. What is clear is that notwithstanding the storm, The Ritz-Carlton is substantially complete and when completed will represent a new standard of excellence in the hotel and condominium industry in the Caribbean.”
Travers added: “A good deal of the criticism has verged on the unfair. The question of whether the Cayman Islands has a tourism industry and the type and development that should be permitted under it is very much a policy matter for the Cayman Islands government. Having set those policies, we should be grateful for those who are prepared to invest the capital and make the commitment to raise the standard.”
Alison Bach
Longtime Resident of the Cayman Islands
Alison Bach has known Michael Ryan for over a year as a personal friend. Describing him as “generous and kind, with an excellent sense of humor,” she says, “From personal contact with Michael, I have been impressed with his down to earth approach and his generosity of spirit and willingness to help people. This was particularly obvious in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan when he was desperately keen to do all he could do to help families and people in dire need.
“A perfect example of this is when he did not hesitate to help fly a desperate family off Grand Cayman, at his own expense, following a personal request from me. I understand that this was just one of hundreds of cases in which he helped.”
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