Building on his experience with Days Inn, while at Blackstone Silverman created Hospitality Franchise Systems (HFS) which would acquire a number of hotel franchises. Among Silverman's purchases were such brands as Ramada and Howard Johnson's as well as Days Inn, which he was able to buy for $290 million (almost half what he had sold it for) after the company had filed for bankruptcy in 1991. Hospitality Franchise Systems went public in a 1992 IPO. HFS was among the fastest growing companies of its size in the 1990s and the company's stock had risen from its IPO price of $4 per share to $77 per share by 1998. However, in 1998, Silverman led Cendant into what would prove a disastrous merger with CUC, a direct marketing company that operated Shoppers Advantage and Travelers Advantage (now part of Affinion Group. The $14 billion merger of HFS and CUC resulted in Cendant Corporation, which was formed in December 1997. Also, as part of the merger, Silverman announced he would reduce his day-to-day involvement with the company and assume the company's chairmanship in preference of CUC's founder and CEO Walter Forbes. Just months after the merger, in April 1998 Cendant uncovered massive accounting improprieties at CUC and resulted in one of the largest financial scandals of the 1990s. After the accounting scandal was uncovered, Silverman and the Cendant board forced Forbes’ resignation and Silverman assumed the CEO post. Under Silverman, Cendant bounced back from the accounting scandal far outperforming the markets in the early 2000s. Silverman's compensation was the subject of scrutiny in 2004. In 2002, on the back of strong performance at Cendant, Silverman signed a 10-year contract that provided for medical benefits, office space as well as travel perks including a corporate airplane and a company car and driver. Of greater attention was the compensation Silverman received in 2003. Silverman's 2003 compensation was estimated at $60 million, which included $14 million in cash salary and bonus, $37 million in stock options and $4.6 million paid as premiums on a company funded life insurance policy. In September 2006, Silverman championed the separation of Cendant Corporation into four independent companies. Cendant spun off its real estate brokerage division, Realogy which was sold to Apollo Global Management and sold its travel distribution services division, Travelport, to The Blackstone Group. Cendant's hospitality services division, is now a separate company Wyndham Worldwide.