*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).
Have Taylor Swift fans dubbed Flava Flav as King of the Swifties? Plus, his new partnership with Old Spice and if he will ever go back to the Olympics. Watch!
Education Reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Doug Belkin, discusses his latest piece and delves into why incoming freshmen are preferring southern schools.
Founder & CEO of FLYR, Alex Mans, joins Cheddar to talk about the current state of the airline industry and how his company is updating technology in the sky.
Spirit Halloween CEO, Steve Silverstein, stops by Cheddar to talk SNL, this year's top costume ideas and why you should watch out for Spirit Christmas. Watch!
Brooks Running SVP of Footwear, Carson Caprara, introduces the new Glycerin Max and explains how leaning into innovation helps build customer brand loyalty
