Micky Arison (; born June 29, 1949) is an Israeli-American billionaire businessman and chairman of Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise operator. From 1979 until 2013, he was also the company's

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. Arison is also the owner of the NBA's

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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

, which under his ownership has won three NBA Championships.

Early life and education

Arison was born on June 29, 1949, in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel, the son of Ted Arison, co-founder of Carnival Corporation. His sister is Shari Arison. He also has a brother, Kames Arison. Arison attended the University of Miami School of Business at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

but dropped out to become a sales representative for Carnival Corporation.

Career

Miami Heat

Arison has been the owner of the

since 1995. During his ownership, Arison hired

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

as the team's head coach (and later team president) and under Arison's ownership the team has won three NBA championships ( 2006,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Compensation and wealth

In 2009, he earned $7,201,110, which included a base salary of $880,000, a cash bonus of $2,206,116, stocks granted of $3,618,481, and other compensation totaling $496,513. As of March 2025, Arison's wealth was calculated at $8.65 billion. In 2024, he was ranked at #137 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest individuals.

Personal life

Arison is married to Madeleine Arison, and they have two children. Their son Nick Arison is chief executive officer of the

. Arison owns two yachts which he uses as homes. In January, 2025, Arison sold his condo resident in Bal Harbour, Florida for $5.8 million, or $1,134 per square foot.

Awards and honors

*Three-time NBA Champion (as owner of the

) * Arison has been announced as a 2025 inductee of the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

as a contributor.

References

External links

Micky Arison biography
at ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Arison, Micky 1949 births Living people American billionaires American businesspeople in shipping American chairpersons of corporations American chief executives of travel and tourism industry companies American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Miami Carnival Corporation & plc people Israeli billionaires Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli Jews Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Miami Heat owners NBA executives University of Miami Business School alumni People named in the Paradise Papers Jewish American basketball people Jewish American sports executives and administrators