Norwegian Cruise Line rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in celebration of the fifth anniversary of its IPO. Frank Del Rio, President & CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, was with us to share which milestones stand out to him the most.
Del Rio highlights the consistent growth in the company. One milestone that he is most proud of is Norwegian’s acquisition of Prestige Holdings, which he founded. Revenue for the company jumped 11% since last year and doubled since the IPO. He says Norwegian is a story of organic growth and he sees it continuing.
China has been a tough market to crack for many U.S. companies, but not for Norwegian. Del Rio says the company found success by thinking about what the Chinse consumer wants. He says they love to shop for luxury brands, so the company built the ship with 60% more retail space. Additionally, Norwegian capitalized on gaming by putting 3 casinos on board. On top of that, he says Chinese consumers aren't big sunbathers, so the company deemphasized the pool deck.
Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC. That’s because the companies have failed to reach a new licensing deal to keep Disney channels on YouTube TV. Depending on how long it lasts, the dispute could particularly impact coverage of U.S. college football matchups over the weekend — on top of other news and entertainment disruptions that have already arrived. In the meantime, YouTube TV subscribers who want to watch Disney channels could have little choice other than turning to the company’s own platforms, which come with their own price tags.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
