Colin Veitch
Since departing as CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line in 2008, Colin Veitch has largely stayed out of the cruise industry spotlight. But he was quite engaged in 2010 and 2011 in promoting a new cruise venture. Veitch recently sued Virgin Cruises, accusing it of misappropriating his plan for a line featuring two $1 billion "Ultra Ships." Veitch spoke with cruise editor Tom Stieghorst about some of the issues behind the lawsuit.
Q: What makes you sure that this was your idea and not a synthesis of ideas that Virgin had heard over the years?
A: My idea was very specifically focused around very large ships. ... To put that in context, these would have been bigger ships than the industry leader [Carnival] has yet built. And looking at the announcements [Virgin has] made about the amount of money they've raised, and putting it together with what they were involved in with me for over a year, it's clear to me that [from] their public statements, the amount of money they're raising and what I know of them, it is this project.
Q: Before you agreed to talk with them, Virgin signed a confidentiality agreement. How, in your view, did they break that agreement?
A: The confidentiality agreement was very straightforward and said they wouldn't use any information defined as confidential for three years after the date of signing. When our partnership broke up in June 2012, we wrote to them reminding them of that obligation and telling them explicitly, "You can do whatever you want as long as it's not this." And within three years of the [nondisclosure agreement] being signed, their founder was giving interviews that they had almost completed raising money to build two very large ships from scratch. And that was the indication to me ... that they were simply continuing with the project right after we broke up.
Q: Did you want to be CEO of Virgin Cruises?
A: That was certainly the intent from the outset, but that was a role, an executive role. My principal role in all of this was as founder of the business.
Q: Have you been paid anything by Virgin?
A: No. I've spent a great deal of my own money, and of course my own time, and I've persuaded quite a number of other people to work on spec on this project by drawing on the relationships I've developed over the years in the industry. And they were willing to do that, believing based on my track record that this project would come to fruition and they would in due course be enjoying a big role in the project, whether they were design firms, or lawyers, or technical specialists or naval architects.
Q: When did you last speak with Virgin Group founder Richard Branson?
A: I've never spoken to Richard Branson. My understanding is that he doesn't have an executive role in the business.
Q: Are there other projects in the cruise industry you're interested in?
A: I'm not doing anything in the cruise industry. I'm keeping myself busy on other business projects. But this was very much the combination of working 17 years in the business, and having a period in which to reflect on it after I'd left NCL, and really recognizing a fantastic opportunity. ... And it may sound simple from the outside, and certainly it may sound simple once it's been explained, but it was an epiphany to Virgin when I explained it to them.