ARNOLD DONALD
PRESIDENT & CEO, CARNIVAL, MIAMI
Donald heads the world’s largest cruise ship company, taking over from former CEO Micky Arison in 2013. Donald’s first job was at St. Louis-based Monsanto, where he rose to become general manager at 32. Some 20 years later, he joined a group of investors who bought Monsanto’s Equal sugar substitute and formed a company, Merisant, with Donald as CEO and chairman. He was semi-retired when Arison called. Donald’s biggest formative influences were his father, a carpenter, who built the house where Donald was raised in New Orleans with four siblings and the 27 foster children his parents took in while he was growing up. He attended St. Augustine High School, a Catholic school for African-American boys in New Orleans, where students were told three times a day to dream big and “prepare yourselves. You’re going to run the world.”
| EDUCATION | Carleton College (BS), Washington University (BS), University of Chicago (MBA) |
| PROFESSIONAL EVOLUTION | When I was first approached with this opportunity at Carnival, I was semi-retired and wasn’t sure I wanted to jump back into the corporate world. Now, looking back, I realize I should have been begging for the opportunity! |
| ADMIRES | Brightline is very creative and well-managed. And they have a strong vision of providing a great service to the community. |
| NEW HOBBY | I have been learning to relax more, which is both a new interest and an accomplishment for someone who is working as much as I am. |
| SABBATICAL TOPIC | Astronomy. Through astronomy we can understand where we came from and where we are going, which makes it a pretty profound discipline. |