William Walter Becker (May 18, 1921 – April 2, 2007) was an American hotelier. He is best known for creating the Motel 6 concept of inexpensive motel rooms. Born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, he was working as a house painter in Santa Barbara, California when he took a trip in 1960. The price and quality of the motel rooms were substandard, and he contacted a building contractor friend named Paul Green about building low-cost hotels. The first Motel 6 opened in Santa Barbara in 1962 and offered rooms for $6. They sold the chain of 180 motels in 1968 for $14 million. He then bought a cattle ranch in 1970 and in 1980 started the Stockmen's Bank, which was purchased in 2007 by

National Bank of Arizona Zions Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Zions Bancorporation originated as Keystone Insurance and Investment Co., a Utah Corporation, in April 1955. In April 1960, Keystone, together with several in ...

. Becker died of a heart attack at his ranch outside

Kingman, Arizona Kingman is a city in, and the county seat of, Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named after Lewis Kingman, an engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. It is located southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and northwest of Arizona's ...

.William Becker, 85, Creator of Concept of Motel 6 Chain, Dies.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Walter W. 1921 births 2007 deaths American bankers American hoteliers Ranchers from Arizona Businesspeople from Arizona People from Pasadena, California People from Kingman, Arizona 20th-century American businesspeople