AMC’s Chief Executive Says He Will Freeze Executive Pay in 2023

Adam Aron, the CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, asked the theater chain’s board not to increase his salary in 2023, he said in a tweet Dec. 27. “I do not want ‘more’ when our shareholders are hurting,” he said.

The theater chain is still recovering from closures and a wider shift to streaming during the pandemic. AMC’s stock is down 75 percent from its 2019 peak, and its revenue hasn’t reached pre-pandemic levels. Over nine months in 2022, the company spent more than it made.

1 of 3/ 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. So, I recommended to the AMC Board to red circle and freeze both my target cash and target stock pay for 2023. NO INCREASE.

— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) December 27, 2022

Aron asked 15 to 20 senior executives to make the same decision, which he said they will likely agree to do. In 2021, he earned $18.9 million. The chief financial officer made $4.7 million, and an executive vice president made $3.4 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter. In June, a majority of 87 million shareholders voted against the payment packages given to executives.

Films like Top Gun: Maverick, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness drove box office earnings this year. Avatar: The Way of Water, released Dec. 16, could help pad AMC’s revenue to finish out the year.