Take a Lesson, 2nd Edition

7Arnold Donald

CEO, Carnival Corporation

“Gentlemen, prepare yourselves. You're going to run the world.”

It's been well documented that those nine words—the daily clarion call at St. Augustine, Arnold Donald's beloved secondary school in New Orleans, Louisiana—changed his life. While he couldn't have factored a global pandemic into the equation, Donald nonetheless rose from a poor kid whose high school band helped desegregate Mardi Gras to steering the world's largest cruising company through its most devastating year and into an ambitious reset that included a relaunch of its nine brands and the majority of its fleet by the end of 2021.

Recovering from multi‐billion‐dollar losses in the midst of a still‐frightened and uncertain world is no cakewalk. In 2020, Donald cut his salary in half and now he flies Southwest. But this engineer turned consummate salesman remains buoyant, even bullish, about cruising's future.

A voracious reader who consumes everything from books on legendary business leaders and blockchain to the entire Game of Thrones series (yes, they were books first), Donald maintains a restless pace and couches a steely resolve in an easy smile and slight Southern drawl.

In the most dismal days of COVID, whether called upon by CNBC to offer a quarterly outlook or by a college in need of a rousing commencement address, Donald gamely stepped up to the plate, staying ...