After 29 Years, Viking's Founder Just Handed the Wheel to Someone Else
Torstein Hagen steps down as Viking CEO after 29 years, handing the role to longtime executive Leah Talactac as the company posts record revenues and expands its fleet to over 100 ships.
For nearly three decades, Viking Cruises has been inseparable from one man: Torstein Hagen. The Norwegian entrepreneur founded the company in August 1997 with a fleet of four river ships on the Volga and, over the following 29 years, turned it into one of the most respected names in premium travel — a company that now operates more than 100 ships across river, ocean, and expedition itineraries worldwide.
That era just quietly came to a close.
As reported by The Maritime Executive, Viking Holdings announced on May 14, 2026, that Torstein Hagen is stepping down as CEO and transitioning into the role of Executive Chairman. In his place, Leah Talactac — the company’s long-serving President and Chief Financial Officer — has been named President and Chief Executive Officer.
Who Is Leah Talactac?
Talactac is not a newcomer parachuted in from outside. She has spent the last 20 years at Viking, joining the company in 2006 and working her way through multiple senior financial roles before becoming CFO. She was, by most accounts, Hagen’s most trusted financial architect — the person who helped engineer and oversee the company’s landmark IPO in 2024, which listed Viking on the New York Stock Exchange and introduced the brand to a broader pool of investors.
In January 2025, she was elevated to President and CFO, widely seen at the time as a clear signal that a formal succession was being laid out. The May 2026 announcement confirms it: this transition has been deliberately, methodically planned.
A Handoff at the Peak
What makes this transition striking is that it is happening from a position of considerable strength. Viking is not handing the wheel in rough seas — it is doing so at full speed.
The company’s Q1 2026 financial results, released alongside the leadership announcement, show total revenues exceeding $1 billion for the quarter alone, up 17.5 percent year over year. Gross margins increased 21 percent. The 2026 sailing season is 92 percent sold, with forward bookings for 2027 already at 38 percent.
That is not a company in transition mode. That is a company firing on all cylinders — which makes this the ideal moment for a founder to step back and let the next generation take the helm without the pressure of a turnaround narrative.
What Hagen’s New Role Actually Means
Hagen is not disappearing. As Executive Chairman, he will retain focus on long-term company strategy and will continue to support Talactac as she settles into the top job. In practice, this is the model many founder-led companies aspire to: the visionary moves to the boardroom, freeing the operational leader to run the day-to-day.
The question, of course, is how much of Viking’s brand identity is tied to Hagen personally. He has always been deeply involved in the product — the itineraries, the design, the “thinking traveler” positioning that sets Viking apart from the mainstream cruise world. Whether that ethos lives on unchanged under Talactac’s leadership is something the travel industry will be watching closely.
The Fleet That Awaits Her
The scale of what Talactac is inheriting is staggering. Viking expects to take delivery of two new ocean ships and nine river vessels before the end of 2026. Looking further ahead, the company has a committed orderbook of 22 additional river ships by 2028, 10 more ocean ships by 2031, and two expedition ships by 2031 — a build-out that would bring the total fleet to 112 river ships and 25 ocean and expedition vessels.
Managing that pipeline while maintaining the quality and consistency that Viking’s loyal passenger base demands will be the defining challenge of Talactac’s early tenure.
A New Chapter, Not a New Company
Viking has always been careful about how it presents itself: not a party ship, not a megaship, not a casino on water. It is a considered, premium experience for adults who want to actually see the places they visit. Whether Talactac built her career in finance or not, she built it inside a company that has held firmly to that identity for nearly 30 years.
The founder may have stepped aside — but the ship, as it were, is sailing in the same direction it always has.
Source: Viking Transitions Management as Torstein Hagen Becomes Executive Chairman — The Maritime Executive
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