Norwegian Cruise Line lost $4 billion last year. Their CEO's pay doubled.


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
The tourism industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and cruise lines are no exception. In fact, they appeared particularly vulnerable to outbreaks early on in the crisis, and sailings stopped around the world. These groundings led to an 80 percent revenue drop and $4 billion in losses for Norwegian Cruise Line, one of the largest cruise companies in the world, The Wall Street Journal reports. Yet, at the same time, CEO Frank Del Rio's compensation doubled to $36.4 million, a Journal analysis of executive pay in 2020 found.
The increase was in part driven by bonuses tied a three-year contract extension, a Norwegian Cruise spokesman said, adding that Del Rio's pay included amounts related to the effects of the pandemic and a U.S. government decision to halt travel to Cuba. "We believe these changes were in the best interests of the company and secured Mr. Del Rio's continued invaluable expertise," the spokesman told the Journal. "Our management team took quick, decisive action to reduce costs, conserve cash, raise capital." He said that a plan to relaunch the company's fleet is underway, as well.
To be clear, Del Rio is not an outlier. Pay rose in 2020 for 206 of the 322 CEOs in the Journal's analysis, and the median pay for the executives in that group jumped to $13.7 million last year from $12.8 million in 2019. While it's true that many CEOs took salary cuts during the pandemic, the Journal notes that much of their pay is tied to bonuses or equity, so they were still able to reel in a lot of money when the stock market rebounded. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Elon Musk used Starlink, which saved Ukraine, to thwart a Ukrainian attack on Russia's Crimea fleet
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Fitch downgrades US credit rating, citing 'repeated debt-limit political standoffs'
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Bed Bath & Beyond relaunches online following bankruptcy
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
San Francisco's iconic Anchor Brewing is closing after 127 years
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Lawmakers say tax prep companies illegally shared taxpayer data with Meta and Google
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Microsoft wins FTC battle to acquire Activision Blizzard
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Tesla reports record quarter for sales
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
48 states sue telecom company over billions of robocalls
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published