(Bloomberg) -- Carnival Corp. promoted Chief Operating Officer Josh Weinstein to chief executive officer effective Aug. 1, succeeding Arnold Donald.

Weinstein, 48, is a 20-year veteran of Carnival and has served as COO for the past two years. Donald, currently the longest-tenured Black CEO among S&P 500 companies, will become Carnival’s vice chair and a member of the board, the Miami-based company said Tuesday in a statement.

The leadership change comes at a pivotal time for the world’s largest cruise-line operator. Bookings have improved since the beginning of the year as Covid-19 surges ebb, and Carnival expects that monthly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will turn positive at the beginning of the summer season. 

The departure of Donald, 67, will leave just five Black CEOs in the S&P 500: Marvin Ellison at Lowe’s Cos., Craig Arnold at Eaton Corp., Roz Brewer at Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., Rene Jones at M&T Bank Corp. and Frank Clyburn at International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.

Donald had been CEO since 2013. In recent years, the number of Black CEOs has stalled out at about five as the CEOs are appointed and depart at about the same rate.

(Updates with context on Black CEOs beginning in second paragraph.)

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