ARON
Adam

• 1. AMC era
• 2. Controversy

Adam Maximilian Aron is an American businessman and the chairman and CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. More recently, he became a co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, additionally serving as its CEO from 2011 to 2013. Aron had previously served as President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, from 1993 to 1996, as well as Chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts from 1996 to 2006, and continues to serve on the board of directors. In 2006, Aron formed a personal consultancy, World Leisure Partners, Inc. His contributions were hailed by Newsweek during his time at Vail with the headline: "Vail Resorts is a peak performer. CEO Adam Aron has transformed the U.S. ski industry."

AMC era

Aron was named CEO of AMC movie theaters in late 2015. Aron was the subject of a number of high-profile pieces in magazines such as Variety that lauded him and his transformation strategy at AMC.

In 2021, Aron took the unusual step of publicly engaging with his investor base via Twitter. He follows about 2,600 AMC retail stockholders on the platform, and has about 257,000 followers as of June 2022.

Controversy

When AMC announced that most of their theaters would reopen in mid-July 2020, the initial announcement said masks would be recommended but not mandatory: "we are strongly encouraging our guests to wear masks all across the country, but not requiring it" and "We did not want to be drawn into a political controversy . . . We thought it might be counterproductive if we forced mask wearing on those people who believe strongly that it is not necessary." But after massive pushback from the public, Aron changed the policy to require masks: "This announcement prompted an intense and immediate outcry from our customers, and it is clear from this response that we did not go far enough on the usage of masks," Aron said.