Elliott said to have built over 10% stake in Norwegian Cruise Line

(Sharecast News) - Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has reportedly built a more than 10% stake in Norwegian Cruise Line and plans to push for changes to turn the struggling cruise-ship operator around. According to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, Elliott - now one of Norwegian's top investors - is planning to engage with the company to try to help fix its underperformance.

Norwegian is the fourth-largest cruise operator in the world by number of passengers, with a market value of roughly $10bn. Its brands include the more premium Oceania Cruises and the luxury Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Norwegian's stock is down around 4% year to date as of Friday, after falling roughly 13% in 2025.

The WSJ pointed out that the Miami-based company has lagged behind competitors including Royal Caribbean and Carnival Corp, with Norwegian shares among the worst-performing in the S&P 500 over the past five years.

It was understood that Elliott believes Norwegian could make changes to catch up to its rivals. For example, Norwegian's peers have had success bringing in new customers to cruises through their private islands. Norwegian owns Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, one of the biggest private islands in the industry, but industry-watchers say its development plans have been slow-going.

Sources to the WSJ that Elliott has been privately working with Adam Goldstein, the former president and chief operating officer of Royal Caribbean, as one potential board nominee at Norwegian.

A deadline for shareholders to nominate director candidates ahead of Norwegian's annual meeting closes next month.

Sources told the WSJ that Elliott's focus is on simultaneously improving Norwegian's financial performance and the guest experience. The investment firm believes Royal Caribbean has been successful at addressing both, and that Norwegian has achieved a successful turnaround in the past as well.

The shares were up 6.1% at $22.81 in pre-market trade at 0955 GMT.