AMC Board of Directors appoints CEO Adam Aron as President

July 21 (Reuters) – Cinema operator AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (AMC.N) on Wednesday appointed chief executive Adam Aron as chairman, at a time when investors are pushing companies to separate the two roles to control the management.

Aron has been AMC CEO, chairman and board member since 2016, leading the company to become the world’s largest movie theater operator and maintain cash flow when the pandemic hit its business.

One of the so-called “memes stocks,” AMC skyrocketed as part of a Reddit-related open squeeze earlier this year. Shares of the company were down 2.8% in pre-market trading on Wednesday.

Microsoft took a similar step last month, appointing CEO Satya Nadella as chairman of its board. Read more

Many large companies have a legacy structure where the roles of CEO and Chairman are held by one person, usually the founder, but it is only in rare cases that companies choose to revert to such a structure.

According to data from shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (ISS) ESG, 59% of S&P companies have a separate CEO in 2021, up from 37% just ten years ago.

AMC said Ambassador Philip Lader will be the company’s senior manager.

Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel

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