AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron saw his total compensation fall to $11.35 million in 2024, down 55% from $25.4 million in 2023.
The package included a $1.5 million base salary, stock option awards of $5.44 million, non-equity incentive plan compensation of $4.38 million and $29,868 in “other” compensation, including $13,800 in 401(k) match contributions paid by the company and $16,068 in life insurance premiums.
The decline from 2023 was due to the value of his annual equity grant decreasing approximately 37%. Aron’s base salary and annual bonus opportunity did not change, resulting in a reduction in total compensation at a target of 25%. The movie theater chain’s CEO pay ratio was 974 to 1, with a median annual total compensation for all employees of $11,659.
In addition to Aron, chief financial officer Sean Goodman saw his total pay for 2024 fall 29% to $4.8 million, chief operations officer Daniel Ellis saw his pay dip 26.8% to $2.21 million and chief content officer Elizabeth Frank saw her pay tumble 38% to $2.03 million.
The executive pay disclosures come as industry box office performance for 2024 stabilized after a years-long recovery from the COVID pandemic in 2020 and Hollywood’s double labor strike in 2023. However, the latter caused delays in movie release schedules through the first half of 2024.
The North American industry box office for 2024 came in at $8.7 billion, compared to AMC’s internal projection of $9 billion at the beginning of the year and a 2019 pre-pandemic level of $11.4 billion. Industry box office during the first half of 2024 was $3.1 billion compared to $5.6 billion in the second half of 2024.
Shares of AMC Theatres are down 8.8% in the past year, 33.58% year to date and 39% in the past six months.
