Haute 100 Miami member Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines and Miami Heat owner, has handed control of the NBA team down to his son, Nick Arison. The 30-year-old will now be CEO of the team, a position created for Nick that will give him day-to-day control over the franchise.

“I’m very excited and thankful for this opportunity and look forward to a seamless transition in my new position,” Nick Arison said. From his first Heat job as a team attendant 16 years ago to his years-long standing as limited partner in the team’s ownership group, Nick is stepping up to a long-awaited position.

The Miami Heat is no stranger to nepotism. Micky’s father and Nick’s grandfather, Ted Arison, was one of the original founders of the Heat, with Micky buying the team’s controlling share back in 1995. The promotion for the youngest Arison does not, however, mean that his stake in the club will increase and Nick will still report directly to his father, who is maintaining his position with the NBA Board of Governors.

“This is something Nick has been working towards his whole life. He’s more prepared for this job than I was at his age when I became CEO of Carnival,” Micky Arison said. “I have the utmost confidence that Nick will continue to lead the Heat as a model NBA franchise for many years to come.”

Heat President and fellow Haute 100 Miami member Pat Riley will continue to control the basketball operations with Eric Woolworth maintaining his position overseeing the Heat’s business operations. Nick Arison has been the team’s vice president of basketball operations since 2008, working in nearly every aspect of the team’s business, and Riley has nothing but confidence in him.

Riley comments, “I have been working for the Arison family for 16 years. The Miami Heat is truly a family organization and that is what makes it a desirable franchise to work for. The Heat are the Arisons. Like his grandfather Ted and father Micky, Nick is an extraordinary, special young man and will serve the Heat in a highly professional manner as those men did. Congratulations to Nick. He has earned it.”

Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets. To see the entire Haute 100 Miami list, click here.