AMC CEO requests pay freeze as stock tanks

AMC Entertainment’s Adam Aron has requested a pay freeze for himself, he said Tuesday, as the movie theater chain’s stock has fallen significantly in 2022.

"Biggest inflation in 40 years, so in 2023 companies will grant large % salary raises. But I do not want ‘more’ when our shareholders are hurting," he wrote in the tweet. 

"So, I recommended to the AMC Board to red circle and freeze both my target cash and target stock pay for 2023. NO INCREASE."

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In a subsequent tweet, he said he "asked" the company’s "most senior officers" to "forego an increase to their cash salaries" for the coming year too. He made the request to 15 to 20 executives, according to Aron, who noted AMC has a "very dedicated management team."

"No increase for those at the top is the right thing to do," he also wrote, describing his "motives" as "pure" and adding he tries "as best as I know how to lead AMC through the painful aftermath of this horrid pandemic." 

Aron made about $18.9 million last year, according to Reuters.

AMC shares fell about 8% on Tuesday and have dropped over 80% year-to-date. 

Comparatively, the S&P 500 index is down about 20% year-to-date.

Last week, the world’s largest movie theater operator’s board proposed a 1-to-10 reverse-split of its common stock and announced plans to raise $110 million in equity capital from Antara Capital via selling APE units.

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AMC first issued APE preferred equity units in August as a special dividend, and they started to trade on the New York Stock Exchange not long after that. The ticker symbol for them derives from the nickname of the company’s "Ape" retail investors who helped rescue the company from a possible bankruptcy when COVID-19 restrictions forced cinemas to shut their doors.

In early November, AMC said its third-quarter revenue increased 26.9% to $968.4 million from the same period last year, when it reported $763.2 million. Its net loss was $226.9 million, marking a slight widening year-over-year.

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The company has about 10,500 screens at 940 theaters globally.