Heat Owner Micky Arison Lost Hundreds of Millions in Cruise Liner Disaster


Miami Heat owner Micky Arison has had some bad financial luck of late. And the recent Costa Concordia cruise liner disaster only added to the billionaire’s woes. To say nothing of the lives lost during the tragic wreck. From the Guardian: “More than £300m has been wiped off the paper fortune of the multibillionaire boss of the company that owned the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia. Micky Arison, the flamboyant chairman, chief executive and majority owner of FTSE 100 company Carnival, saw a large chunk of his $4.5bn (£2.9bn) holdings dissolve on Monday as the company’s shares lost almost a fifth of their value. The shares collapsed by as much as 23% before ending the day 17% lower at £18.65 – their biggest fall for a decade. That wiped more than £1bn off the market value of the company and £300m from Arison’s 30% stake. The fall was precipitated by fears that the shipwreck will put holidaymakers off booking cruises for this year’s summer holidays and Carnival warned that it was ‘not possible to determine’ the full cost of the wreck, which killed at least six people. Carnival said the Costa Concordia would be out of action until at least November and put initial estimates of the cost at $95m (£62m). However, analysts said the final amount is likely to be greater. ‘This tragedy will be a black mark on the cruise industry and a negative headline for Carnival,’ said Tim Ramskill, an analyst at Credit Suisse. ‘If the industry didn’t already face enough challenges, this unfortunate event will reverberate on the group over the near-term. While these accidents are extremely rare, the extensive media coverage will likely curtail some booking activity and pressure pricing during the critical season.'”

(H/T: True Hoop)