Royal Caribbean Billionaire founder dead at 90
Arne Wilhelmsen, a founder of Royal Caribbean Cruises and a member of its board of directors for more than 30 years, died Saturday in Palma, Spain. He was 90 years old.
Born on June 15, 1929, in Oslo, Norway, Wilhelmsen earned his MBA at Harvard Business School and worked as a chartering assistant for Norway's EB Lund & Co. and later as a shipbroker in New York, according to Royal Caribbean. He joined his family business -- Anders Wilhelmsen & Co AS -- in 1954, before becoming its president in 1961.
"At a time when the rest of the world thought cruising was a niche use for old transatlantic liners, Arne was already seeing glimmers of the growth that was possible," said Richard Fain, RCL's chairman and CEO. "He had a vision of the modern cruise industry when the 'industry' might have been a dozen used ships, total."
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