AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron saw his overall pay dip in 2021 to $18.9 million, down from the $20.9 million he earned in 2020 despite the worldwide shutdown of movie theaters, according to a disclosure of executive compensation in an SEC filing Friday.
Aron received a base pay salary that was 20% higher than last year’s, earning $1.45 million, but he also took home $11.4 million in stock awards and $6 million from non-equity incentive plan compensation.
Though his base salary was lower in 2020, Aron had received a $5 million bonus for helping the company navigate the pandemic, as well as increased stock awards as a result of some of the AMC surging after becoming a meme stock last year thanks to traders on Reddit. Overall his 2020 salary more than doubled compared to 2019, when Aron made only $9.6 million.
Company CFO Sean Goodman saw a slight boost in his pay in 2021, making $4.7 million compared to $4.2 million in 2020, driven by his own higher base salary. Executive vice president John McDonald made $3.0 million, a dip from 2020’s $3.4 million, though he too saw his base salary increase. And Chief Content Officer Elizabeth Frank made $2.9 million in 2021, just under the $3.0 million she made the year prior.
Aron and others are fresh off attending this year’s CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas, where Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson even teased Aron as to why he’s nicknamed “The Silverback.”
Aron and AMC took a little heat when it revealed that the theater chain had quietly been ticket price surging for major blockbuster releases, most notably on Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” earlier this year. But the company has made other notable investments in the form of acquiring some smaller chains and recently announcing a plan to install higher quality and more energy efficient laser projectors in its theaters by 2024.