Ted Arison ( he, תד אריסון; 24 February 1924 – 1 October 1999) was an Israeli businessman who co-founded

Norwegian Cruise Lines Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6 ...

in 1966 with

Knut Kloster Knut Utstein Kloster (2 April 1929 – 20 September 2020) was a Norwegian shipping magnate. His grandfather Lauritz Kloster founded Kloster Rederi in 1924. In 1959 Kloster joined the family business and transformed it into a leading cruise line. ...

and soon left to form Carnival Cruise Lines in 1972.

Early years

Arison was born Theodore Arisohn on 24 February 1924 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

(in the then

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

) to Meir, a wealthy businessman, and Vera Arisohn. He was a third-generation

sabra Sabra may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Sabra (comics), a fictional Israeli female superhero in the Marvel Comics universe * Sabra (magazine), a Japanese magazine for men * '' Sabra Command'' the original title of the film ''Warhead'' * "Sab ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n descent and studied commerce and economics at the American University of Beirut. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he enlisted in the

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and fought in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. After the British departure, he served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, eventually achieving the rank of

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. From 1946 to 1951, he managed M. Dizengoff & Co., a shipping company.

Career

Frustrated by the lack of business opportunities, Arison wrapped up his business and moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

after 1952. He took his family to New York in 1954 and moved to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, in 1966, where he co-founded

in 1966 with

.Beyond Ships
/ref> In 1971 the partnership broke up on bad terms and Arison formed Carnival Cruise Lines in 1972 with the help of

Meshulam Riklis Meshulam Riklis ( he, משולם ריקליס; 2 December 1923 – 25 January 2019) was an Israeli financier and businessman. Early years Born in Istanbul to a Russian-Jewish family, Riklis grew up in Tel Aviv, and attended the Herzliya Hebrew ...

, in which he would make his fortune. In 1981, he established the

National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungArts (previously National YoungArts Foundation and National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, or NFAA) is an American charity established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to help nurture emerging high-school artists. The foundation is bas ...

based in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. He brought professional basketball to South Florida with the formation of the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

in 1988, and established the Arison Foundation, a philanthropic institution, in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the

. In 1986, Arison's condominium neighbor, Count de S.G. Elkaim (Vice President at E.F. Hutton & Company, Inc.), advised him to go public before an impending big correction in the stock market. Following his advice and guidance, Carnival Cruise Lines was floated on the

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was know ...

in July 1987, one month before the stock market top and the infamous crash of October 1987. (Hutton was one of the four underwriters.) No competition was able to raise money, which gave Carnival an advantage. In February 1989, Arison awarded in the strictest of confidence the exclusive sale of the company at $30 per share to Elkaim. The stock market recovery from the emotional shock on the 1987 crash was not able to absorb this transaction. Consequently, having Carnival in the stock market and the ensuing rally until 1999 catapulted Arison to become one of the world's richest people.

Return to Israel

In an effort to avoid

estate tax in the United States The estate tax in the United States is a federal tax on the transfer of the estate of a person who dies. The tax applies to property that is transferred by will or, if the person has no will, according to state laws of intestacy. Other transfe ...

, in 1990, Arison renounced his U.S. citizenship and residence and returned to Israel, where he founded Arison Investments. In 1997, Arison Investments headed a consortium that purchased the controlling share in Bank Hapoalim for more than $1 billion, the largest

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

in Israel's history.

Family

Arison married Mina Wasserman (1927-2012), who immigrated to Israel from Romania, in 1948 and they had two children: a son

Micky Micky or Mickie can be a given name, but it is most often a nickname for Michael or non-Anglo Saxon equivalents, such as "Mikhail". People with the name include: Men * Micky Adams (born 1961), English football manager and former player * Micky Ari ...

(born 1949) and a daughter Shari (born 1957). The couple divorced after moving to Florida in 1966. In 1967 he married Marilyn "Lin" Hersh and later adopted her son Michael (born 1961).

Death

Arison died in Tel Aviv on 1 October 1999. Micky Arison was Chief Executive Officer of

Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...

until August 2013 and is currently chairman of the company. Shari Arison is Israel's wealthiest woman, and is the owner of Arison Investments that comprises several business companies, the largest among them Bank Hapoalim, and of several philanthropic organizations that are subsidiaries of The Ted Arison Family Foundation. At the time of his death, Arison failed by approximately nine months to meet the requirement of being outside of United States territory for 10 years for the tax benefits of his renunciation of U.S. citizenship to be realized.

References

Sources

External links

The Ted Arison Family Foundation
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Arison, Ted 1924 births 1999 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Carnival Corporation & plc people Israeli bankers Israeli billionaires Israeli colonels Israeli Jews Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Israeli philanthropists Jews in Mandatory Palestine Miami Heat owners Norwegian Cruise Line People who renounced United States citizenship People from Zikhron Ya'akov People from Tel Aviv Israeli businesspeople in shipping American businesspeople in shipping Jewish Brigade personnel 20th-century philanthropists Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery