Ted Arison, who initially shunned his family's shipping business
but later founded what is now the world's largest cruise operator,
died of heart failure on Friday, Oct. 29. He was 75.
Arison, one of the world's richest men at the time of his death,
according to Forbes magazine; made most of his fortune through
Carnival Corp., which he started in 1972 after retiring in Miami in
1966.
Born in pre-state Israel as the son of a ship owner, Arison
decided against entering shipping and instead studied engineering
at the American University of Beruit at age 16. He left school to
fight in the British Army during World War II and also fought for
Israeli statehood in 1948.
After the war, Arison took control of the family business, M.
Dizengoff and Co., and he later operated his own fleet of cargo
ships. Arison eventually sold Dizengoff and liquidated his own
operation to move to the U.S. in the 1950's.
In 1966, he came out of retirement to manage a passenger
shipping firm which eventually became Norwegian Caribbean Lines,
the forerunner to present-day Norwegian Cruise Line and the first
company to package air fare and cruise vacations. In 1972, Arison
left Norwegian Caribbean to lease the vessel Mardi Gras, the first
ship in Carnival's now-massive fleet.
Arison retired as chairman of Carnival in 1990; that same year
he gave up his American citizenship to return to Israel, where he
maintained vast business interests. During his lifetime Arison
participated in numerous humanitarian and philanthropic efforts in
South Florida and Israel.
He is survived by his wife Lin, a son Micky, who is Carnival's
chief executive, and a daughter, Shari. Sources close to the Arison
family said his funeral took place on Sunday in Tel Aviv.