*By Conor White* There are only three black chief executives of Fortune 500 companies, and that has to change, according to a CEO who knows something about breaking down racial barriers to the C-suite. As CEO of Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise line in the world, Arnold Donald says that diversity is a valuable business strategy. "For our communities to thrive, for our companies to thrive, we have to proactively engineer diversity of thinking into our companies," Donald said in an interview Thursday with Cheddar. "That's what I'm doing at Carnival, that's what I've done at other places, and the results speak for themselves." In Donald's five years as chief executive of Carnival, its market cap has increase from $27 billion to $45 billion. Despite living in the age of data gathering, machine learning, and social-media influencers, Donald said he still believes in Carnival's old-fashioned appeal. "The most powerful marketing tool is word of mouth," he said. "We have a lot of people who cruise, as I mentioned 83 million passenger cruise days a year, nearly 13 million guests just on our ships, and if you know someone who went on a cruise, and you trust them, they're your most reliable resource." For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/carnival-corporation-ceo-talks-record-setting-year).

Share:
More In Business
Why CEO's Fear A.I. and Climate Change
More executives are feeling better about the global economy. But a growing number don’t think their companies will survive the coming decade without a major overhaul because of pressure from climate change and technology like artificial intelligence.
A Gold Medal For Beer Drinkers
The International Olympic Committee has signed the first beer brand in the 40-year history of a sponsorship program that earns billions of dollars for the organization and international sports.
Why Record-Shattering Heat Has Scientists On Edge
The latest calculations from several science agencies showing Earth obliterated global heat records last year may seem scary. But scientists worry that what’s behind those numbers could be even worse.
Load More