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Arnold Donald

Executive

Type
Person
Role
Executive
Updated

The profile

Carnival Corporation chief executive from July 2013 to August 2022. After the fleet stopped sailing in March 2020, Carnival raised $19 billion in the markets, including $4.0 billion of 11.5 percent notes secured by its ships.

Identity and role

Arnold Donald was president and chief executive officer of Carnival Corporation & plc, which describes itself as the world's largest cruise company, from July 2013 until August 1, 2022. He sat on Carnival Corporation's board from 2001 and on Carnival plc's from 2003, and left both on November 30, 2022.

Biography / career arc

Donald spent 23 years at the agrichemical and biotechnology company Monsanto. He later held chairman or chief executive posts at Merisant, the maker of the Equal sweetener, at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and at the Executive Leadership Council. He is a graduate of Carleton College, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Carnival said that before the pandemic he led it to the highest profits in its history. Net income was $2.99 billion in fiscal 2019.

Pandemic-relief / PPP-EIDL role

Carnival paused guest cruises in mid-March 2020. On January 14, 2021 none of its ships had guests on board. For the fiscal year ended November 30, 2020 it reported a net loss of $10.24 billion.

The CARES Act's corporate lending, in Section 4003, set aside $25 billion for passenger airlines and aviation repair stations, $4 billion for cargo airlines and $17 billion for businesses critical to national security. Direct loans required the borrower to certify that it was "created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States" and had "a majority of its employees based in the United States." Carnival Corporation was incorporated in Panama in 1974 and Carnival plc in England and Wales in 2000.

So Carnival paid market rates. Its 2020 annual report lists $19 billion raised from March 2020 onward. In March it drew its full $3.0 billion revolving credit line. In April it sold $4.0 billion of 11.5 percent first-priority senior secured notes due 2023, secured by ships and intellectual property with a net book value of $27.8 billion at year-end. The same month it sold $2.0 billion of 5.75 percent convertible notes, and 71.9 million shares at $8.00 each for $556 million. In August it sold 99.2 million more shares at $14.02 to holders of the convertibles, using the money to buy back $886 million of the notes. Issued Carnival Corporation common stock went from 657 million shares at the end of fiscal 2019 to 1,060 million a year later, a 61 percent increase. The company also cut its fleet capacity by 13 percent and ended fiscal 2020 with $9.5 billion in cash.

Their own relief

Carnival's 2020 annual report lists its financing transaction by transaction; no government loan, grant or guarantee appears among them, and SBA's PPP loan data list no borrower named Carnival Corporation. No PPP or EIDL loan to Donald personally appears in the documents cited here.

Donald has not been charged with a crime. Shareholders sued him in 2020. On May 27, 2020 the Service Lamp Corporation Profit Sharing Plan filed a proposed class action against Carnival Corporation, Donald and David Bernstein. It alleged that they violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act with misstatements and omissions about Carnival's COVID-19 knowledge and response. Two similar suits followed. A consolidated complaint filed on December 15, 2020 kept Donald as a defendant and dropped Bernstein and Micky Arison. The claims are allegations. A motion to dismiss was filed on January 18, 2021; the outcome is not in the documents cited here.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

Carnival announced on April 26, 2022 that Josh Weinstein, its chief operations officer, would succeed Donald as president and CEO on August 1, with Donald becoming vice chair. On November 3, 2022 the company said Donald would leave both boards on November 30 after 21 years and would advise the company under a consulting agreement. "I am extremely proud of all we have accomplished together these past nine years," he said. Carnival's current board page lists Weinstein as chief executive and Micky Arison as chair; Donald is not on it.

Sources held in this archive

  • Carnival and the CARES Exclusion
  • The Airline Payroll Bailout Everyone Forgot

Sources

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