Richard Fain stepping down

[ultimate_ed]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/richard-fain-stepping-down-ceo-124700362.html

[cruisellama]

Wow.   He's done a great job shaping and building the company over decades.  The pandemic years were probably the biggest wrench the industry has seen, and RCG is positioned very well after all the turmoil.   

 

  I wonder if he'll take a cruise or two when he retires?

[ultimate_ed]

6 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

  I wonder if he'll take a cruise or two when he retires?

Looks like he'll stay on as Chairman of the Board.  I imagine there will be a fairly long transition, though it looks like they've been planning for a while to insure a smooth hand over.

Quite the achievements for Royal under his leadership, he's certainly earned a retirement.

[twangster]

He'll be around and always a phone call away.  How much Jason will leverage his wisdom and intimate knowledge of the industry remains unknown.  

Jason is a numbers guy, not so much a people person.  This could have a dramatic impact on things like loyalty programs.  Also unknown is Bayley's relationship with Jason.   Have they locked horns before or do they enjoy beers at the BBQ in each other's backyards every other weekend?   Only time will tell.  

[smokeybandit]

Interesting timing. Then again high profile CEOs always seem to step down at odd times.

[LovetoCruise87]

As he is going to be the Chair of the Board of Directors, I think he will still have his hand in ideas and decisions that are made. Fantastic job he has done with RCG

[Cruise Pirate]

I will miss his videos, always a bright spot during the couple years with the pandemic.

[Matt]

40 minutes ago, twangster said:

Jason is a numbers guy

Having seen what the Walt Disney Company is going through right now with its move from Iger to Chapek, this is a real concern.

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, Matt said:

Having seen what the Walt Disney Company is going through right now with its move from Iger to Chapek, this is a real concern.

That's why the timing, at least publicly, is concerning. The guy that's been the face of getting the company out of the pandemic restrictions leaving before they're truly free of restrictions (or at least gov't mandated restrictions).

[twangster]

32 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

That's why the timing, at least publicly, is concerning. The guy that's been the face of getting the company out of the pandemic restrictions leaving before they're truly free of restrictions (or at least gov't mandated restrictions).

The board wants results as in fast positive numbers on a chart.  

The company has some hard choices to make that may be unpopular.  Fain knows that.  He'd rather go out on a high having carried the company through the pandemic and positioned it to make a full recovery.  Liberty may take a lot of heat but the truth is some hard changes will be necessary for the company to get back to the profitability that once came with ease.

Should be interesting going forward.

[Matt]

43 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

That's why the timing, at least publicly, is concerning.

Fain is 72 years old, so he's no spring chicken. I think it's safe to say he saw the company through the worst of the pandemic and with the restart in full swing, now is a good time to step away because things are back on the rails.

Perhaps if there never was Covid, he would have stepped away sooner. We'll never know.

[twangster]

15 minutes ago, Matt said:

Fain is 72 years old, so he's no spring chicken. I think it's safe to say he saw the company through the worst of the pandemic and with the restart in full swing, now is a good time to step away because things are back on the rails.

Perhaps if there never was Covid, he would have stepped away sooner. We'll never know.

I'm sure these past two years have been pretty stressful on him as well.  Probably a few more gray hairs compared to the start of the pandemic.  

Time to sit back and enjoy cruise travel without the weight of the entire group on his shoulders 24 x 7.  

[Matt]

Given Fain's age, I'm not surprised he is stepping away. Maybe another few months into 2022 when better on their feet? Perhaps.

I think the issue here is the replacement, and it's today I wish Adam Goldstein was still with the company. He was the heir-apparent for a while, and then inexplicably went away.

Aside from Liberty, I'm not sure who they could have tapped.

Bayley needs corporate grooming, a la what Goldstein did when he moved away from RCI CEO.

After Liberty and Bayley, the choices become far less public. I cannot name some of the other top tier brass because they have very unpublic roles.

[Traveler]

Heaving the CFO replacing the CEO usually not a good sign for us , many time it means short term revenue increase with less long term loyalty view. I hope I am wrong. Only time will tell.   

[twangster]

4 minutes ago, Traveler said:

Heaving the CFO replacing the CEO usually not a good sign for us , many time it means short term revenue increase with less long term loyalty view. I hope I am wrong. Only time will tell.   

A recent HD who has been around for a while commented that Bayley is very pro C&A.  The extent to which he can buffer us from Liberty is unknown.  Liberty will be over the whole RCG but Bayley still leads Royal Caribbean International.   If Fain told Michael to cut C&A I'm sure he would comply but if Liberty goes there I don't know enough about their relationship to know how that would play out.  Time will tell.  

[sammy79]

5 hours ago, Matt said:

Having seen what the Walt Disney Company is going through right now with its move from Iger to Chapek, this is a real concern.

I thought of Disney as soon as I read the article. I think Disney is heading the wrong direction with all the changes to increase profitability. I just hope RCCL will continue to focus on value and service. 

[BrianAlt]

4 hours ago, Matt said:

Perhaps if there never was Covid, he would have stepped away sooner. We'll never know.

I'm thinking he was planning to, then decided not to during COVID.  But, we probably will never know (unless he says something, which is possible).

[smokeybandit]

Staying on longer than he originally planned would make sense. They surely couldn't let him hand over the keys during the shutdown

[The Cruise Junkie]

Here is a pretty good interview with Jason that is very recent.  

 

[smokeybandit]

Pretty good interview.

But if one of his responsibilities is technology, can we blame him for Royal IT issues?

[TXcruzer]

4 hours ago, Traveler said:

Heaving the CFO replacing the CEO usually not a good sign for us , many time it means short term revenue increase with less long term loyalty view. I hope I am wrong. Only time will tell.   

I can foresee a lot of reductions onboard "to enhance our cruise experience"

[Sharla]

6 hours ago, Matt said:

Aside from Liberty, I'm not sure who they could have tapped.

They could have asked me to do it.  

[twangster]

47 minutes ago, Sharla said:

They could have asked me to do it.  

Jason said they can't afford to lose you as a TA,  he feared a massive stock price impact if that was announced.   

[Ampurp85]

I wonder if the recent C&A changes are Jason's brainchild. The vouchers save a lot on alcohol. I also remember the reduced suite drinks that got rolled back. The charge for casitas on Odyssey.  I can see more things being a charge in the near future as the bottom line will be the focus

[Floski]

1 hour ago, Sharla said:

They could have asked me to do it.  

You'd have to take a pay cut!!  

 

[twangster]

18 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I wonder if the recent C&A changes are Jason's brainchild. The vouchers save a lot on alcohol. I also remember the reduced suite drinks that got rolled back. The charge for casitas on Odyssey.  I can see more things being a charge in the near future as the bottom line will be the focus

I don't see either Fain or Liberty getting into the weeds of the C&A program. 

They may both know exactly what it represents on the spreadsheet, but I really don't see them getting down to that level of any of the individual operating companies.  Don't forget about Michael Bayley.  He may be in the shadow of these two but HE is the leader of Royal Caribbean International, not Fain, not Liberty.  

[Sharla]

14 hours ago, Floski said:

You'd have to take a pay cut!!  

 

I'd do it for free cruising for life.

[smokeybandit]

 

[smokeybandit]

 

[Matt]

The Jason Liberty era has begun

[smokeybandit]

10 minutes ago, Matt said:

The Jason Liberty era has begun

And he's already got a ship named after him

[BB1]

Oasis?

[BrianAlt]

22 minutes ago, BB1 said:

Oasis?

[Plumlee2028]

Its amazing how different things are from when they announced this transition in November. Hopefully in a few weeks we are back to the pandemic normal as things calm down a bit. 

[smokeybandit]

Now taking another step back

 

 

 

[Carlos A.]

Jason Liberty is the worst thing that has ever happened to Royal Caribbean.

[BigKarl]

On 1/4/2022 at 7:20 AM, smokeybandit said:

And he's already got a ship named after him

I hope it isn't "Titanic"

[Cakemeister]

2 hours ago, Carlos A. said:

Jason Liberty is the worst thing that has ever happened to Royal Caribbean.

Please elaborate. 

The stock is close to an all-time high.

[BB1]

RCI has been an absolutely fantastic investment and the shareholder benefit is totally icing on the cake.

[Southern Dan]

I think for just common cruisers who do not hold Royal Caribbean stock they don't care about that, some are just unhappy with the direction the company is going despite how full each cruise is sailing and how much profit the company is generating for themselves and their shareholders.  I don't own RCL stock but they are still my favorite cruise line.