Richard Fain will step down as Royal Caribbean Group chief executive early next year after more than three decades at the helm of the company.

He will be replaced by chief financial officer, Jason Liberty, on January 3rd.

Fain will continue as chairman of the cruise giant.

Liberty joined the Royal Caribbean Group in 2005 and served in several financial, strategic and operational roles before becoming chief financial officer in 2013.

His operational duties have expanded over the years and gone well beyond the responsibilities normally associated with his current position.

He is also responsible for Silversea, the joint ventures with TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises as well as strategy, technology, supply chain, port operations and legal functions with the parent group.

Naftali Holtz will become chief financial officer when Liberty assumes the chief executive role.

Holtz is currently senior vice president, finance, responsible for corporate, capital and revenue planning and analysis, deployment planning, risk management and treasury.

He joined two years ago after a dozen years with Goldman Sachs, ultimately as managing director, head of lodging and leisure investment banking.

Fain has steered the company through the global pandemic, and he was a driving force behind the creation of the Healthy Sail Panel.

He is currently the third-longest serving chief executive among current S&P 500 leaders.

“Richard has been a visionary leader, who has made innumerable and remarkable contributions to our company and our industry,” said Bill Kimsey, lead director of the Royal Caribbean Group board.

“Most recently, his stewardship during the Covid-19 pandemic marks him as one of the great chief executives of his generation.

“The cruising community and all of us in the company owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Fain said that he and the board had developed a careful succession planning process for when he decided the time was right to step down.