AMC Theatres shareholders yet again voted against the compensation packages proposed for its executive officers, including CEO Adam Aron, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
In a largely symbolic move, stockholders holding 20,442,308 shares voted against the pay package, while those holding 19,565,042 voted for it. Aron received compensation of $23.7 million in 2022, up 25 percent from $18.9 million in 2021.
Among the other disclosed executive salaries, CFO Sean Goodman received $6.27 million in overall compensation in 2022, up from a year-earlier $4.7 million pay package.
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Aron’s 2021 compensation, and that of other executives, was also voted down by shareholders last year, with 86,896,550 in shares voting against and those holding 52,148,743 in shares voted in favor.
These votes are non-binding, and therefore do not carry any financial ramifications, but may show that some investors are not happy with the compensation packages or perhaps with management. AMC Theatres became a meme stock in 2021, and saw its share prices soar at the time thanks to interest from retail investors.
AMC Theatres has since used its cash to acquire four former Pacific and ArcLight theaters and seven theater locations from Bow Tie Cinemas, as well as start a retail popcorn business and even buy a $27.9 million stake in gold and silver mining company Hycroft Mining.
In its most recent earnings report, for the three months ended in September, AMC swung to profit and saw its revenue climb thanks to the success of films such as Barbie and Oppenheimer. More recently, the theater chain saw success with the rollout of The Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, but Aron has cautioned that the theaters will still likely see repercussions from the writers and actors strikes, which disrupted the film release calendar.
