CEO Adam Aron was named chairman of the board of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc on Wednesday morning. Aron will continue to serve as both chairman and CEO of AMC Entertainment. Following the resignations of non-executive chairman Lin Zhang and Director Mao Jun Zeng, Aron was chosen chairman of the board.
AMC stock (ticker: AMC) dropped to $36.99 on Friday after rising 24% on Tuesday.
On CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” co-host Joe Kernan claimed that no one else could accomplish the job Aron is doing.
He described the stock’s rise from $2 per share to $42 per share as “amazing.” Aron has managed to improve the company’s foundations while also pleasing and preserving “the monkeys’ devotion,” according to Kernan.
The word “apes” is commonly used to describe AMC Entertainment retail investors who buy and hold the stock indefinitely.
“As CEO & President of AMC for 5 1/2 years, I am flattered that last night the AMC Board of Directors elected me to serve now as Chairman of the Board also,” Aron, who routinely engages with the company’s retail investors via social media, said on Twitter (as well as CEO & President too). In these positions, I shall try my utmost to behave with dignity and distinction.”
As CEO & President of AMC for 5 1/2 years, I am flattered that last night the AMC Board of Directors elected me to serve now as Chairman of the Board also (as well as CEO & President too). I will do my best to act with honor and distinction in these roles. https://t.co/QtKh3F3c4T pic.twitter.com/Ij7fiI89be
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) July 21, 2021
Other Changes
The board’s main director, Philip Lader, was also named. Since July 2019, the former US ambassador to the Court of St. James’s has served as an independent director on AMC’s board of directors.
Both Zhang and Zeng are prominent executives at Wanda Group, the Chinese conglomerate that controlled AMC from 2012 until 2020. In May, Wanda Group sold its stake in AMC. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wanda America Entertainment sold 30,445,290 AMC shares at an average selling price of $14.22 for a total of $426.9 million between May 13 and May 18. AMC’s stock rose to $72.62 in the weeks after that.
How he distinguised himself among meme stock CEOs?
AMC and GameStop are both meme stocks, which means their daily moves are typically unexpected and volatile. Non-fundamental variables such as short seller activity, options volume, momentum trading, and internet discussion all have an influence on them. According to statistics from S3 Partners, while AMC stock has declined somewhat in July, Tuesday’s rise wiped out short sellers, bringing year-to-date losses to $3.82 billion.
(Source: bizjournals)
Aron has distinguished himself among meme stock CEOs by attempting to attract to regular investors on social media platforms such as Reddit. He’s announced a shareholder incentives programme and even featured in YouTube pundit interviews. He gave to their preferred charity, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
The firm has profited from its reputation as a meme stock. In June, analysts at S&P Global Ratings upgraded the company’s debt from CCC to CCC+, citing the company’s $1.8 billion in stock issue so far this year. AMC suspended a shareholder vote on a plan that would have allowed the firm to issue 25 million more shares beginning in 2022, citing market pessimism as a reason. The annual meeting of the corporation is scheduled for July 29.
