Royal Caribbean Group's CEO Richard Fain steps down

After three decades as working CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, Richard Fain suddenly stepped down at midnight on Monday.

CEO of Royal Caribbean Group owns several other subsidiaries, including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Silversea Cruises, and TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises

In a Dec 15 interview with USA TODAY, Fain said, "I genuinely feel like the stars were aligned, and this was a good time to do it."

"I had a fantastic successor in mind, as well as a great management team to keep the company running smoothly. As a result, it just seemed right."

Fain has been the CEO of the corporation for 33 years, notably during the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down the industry for more than a year and prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to advise against cruise travel as the year 2022 begins.

Royal Caribbean claimed in its announcement that Fain, who will remain head of the company's board of directors, is the third-longest-serving CEO among S&P 500 CEOs. During his three decades as CEO, the company expanded dramatically.

"Cruising was an exciting but small portion of the travel and tourism sector – which is perhaps the world's largest industry – and cruising was viewed as a niche market being marketed by niche players to a limited select group of people," Fain added.