AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC), the largest theatrical exhibitor in the United States, in Europe & the Middle East and in the world, announced that it has named Adam Aron, CEO and President of AMC since 2016, as its Chairman of the Board. As Aron will serve both as Chairman and CEO of AMC, the Board has selected Ambassador Philip Lader to serve as its Lead Director.

Aron has served AMC as CEO and President and as a member of the Board of Directors since January of 2016. In this role and as the face of AMC, Aron has overseen the Company’s transformative growth into becoming the largest theatrical exhibitor in the United States, in Europe & the Middle East and in the world. His most recent focus has been on guiding AMC through the complexities of coronavirus pandemic. Aron has significant business and executive experience, having led as CEO five different companies in five different industries for more than 20 years. He has served continuously since 1988 on numerous corporate Boards.

Aron received a bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Harvard College, and a master’s of business administration degree with distinction from the Harvard Business School.

Ambassador Philip Lader, now Lead Director of AMC, joined its Board as an independent director in July of 2019. Ambassador Lader is a Senior Advisor to Morgan Stanley Institutional Securities. He was the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s, and served in President Clinton’s Cabinet as Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, along with having been White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Assistant to the President, and Deputy Director of the Office of Management & Budget. In business, he has been Chairman of WPP plc (which includes Ogilvy & Mather, J. Walter Thompson, Young & Rubicam, Grey, Group M, Kantar, Hill & Knowlton, and Burson-Marsteller, among other companies in 124 countries). Previously, he was Executive Vice President of Sir James Goldsmith’s US holdings (including America’s then-largest private landholdings) and President of Sea Pines Company (developer/operator of large-scale resort communities), universities in South Carolina and Australia, and Business Executives for National Security. He has also served on the boards of Lloyds of London, Marathon Oil, AES, Songbird (Canary Wharf), and RAND Corporation.

Ambassador Lader’s education includes Duke, Michigan, Oxford and Harvard Law School, and he has been awarded honorary doctorates by 14 universities. He was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal by The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures & Commerce for his contributions to trans-Atlantic relations.

The new appointments for Aron and Lader follow the expected resignations from the AMC Board of Lin Zhang and Mao Jun (John) Zeng. Both are senior executives of China’s Wanda Group. Wanda was the controlling shareholder of AMC between 2012 and 2020, and recently sold most of its AMC shares.

Regarding the announcements, Adam Aron commented: “First, I want to express my deepest and sincerest thanks to Lin Zhang and Mao Jun Zeng for their contributions to AMC’s success and for their many years of service as members of AMC’s Board of Directors. Their support, guidance and true friendship has been extremely important to me. Additionally, I am grateful to the full AMC Board for their confidence in my continuing leadership. And it goes without saying that I eagerly look forward to working with Phil Lader in his new role as Lead Director of the Board, as well as with all of our distinguished and talented Board members.”

Ambassador Lader commented: “Adam’s leadership and my board colleagues’ commitment to AMC’s shareowners, guests and employees demonstrate our fundamental belief in movie theaters’ incalculable contributions to international commerce, culture and understanding. As an avid movie-goer and film industry enthusiast as well as corporate director, I look forward to AMC’s continued resilience and a bright future for movie-goers.”

The full AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Board of Directors now includes:

Adam M. Aron – Chairman of the Board and CEO; former CEO of each of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, Vail Resorts and Norwegian Cruise Line, as well as having been the chief marketing officer of both United Airlines and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts

Howard W. ‘Hawk’ Koch, Jr. – Movie producer, principal at The Koch Company, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Philip Lader – Senior Advisor to Morgan Stanley Institutional Securities; formerly served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Management & Budget. Also former Chairman of WPP plc

Gary F. Locke – Trade consultant and owner of Locke Global Strategies; formerly served as Governor of Washington, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and the U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China

Kathleen M. Pawlus – Retired partner of Ernst and Young, LLP having served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of its Global Assurance practice

Anthony J. Saich – Director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation as well as Daewoo Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government

Adam J. Sussman – President of Epic Games; former Chief Digital Officer of Nike, Inc.

Lee E. Wittlinger – Managing Director of Silver Lake; formerly an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in its Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group

About AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.
AMC is the largest movie exhibition company in the United States, the largest in Europe and the largest throughout the world with approximately 950 theatres and 10,500 screens across the globe. AMC has propelled innovation in the exhibition industry by: deploying its Signature power-recliner seats; delivering enhanced food and beverage choices; generating greater guest engagement through its loyalty and subscription programs, web site and mobile apps; offering premium large format experiences and playing a wide variety of content including the latest Hollywood releases and independent programming. For more information, visit www.amctheatres.com.