Adam Aron

Proud to be "The Silverback." CEO of @AMCTheatres since 2016. Former CEO of Starwood Hotels, Norwegian Cruise Line, Vail Resorts and Philadelphia 76ers.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

(Two of Two)

An Open Letter to the Kips Bay Community About the Future of AMC Kips Bay 15 in New York City

“AMC Does Not Want to Go. We Want to Stay.”

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It isn’t true that New Yorkers can be prevented from having your cake and eating it too. Indeed you can. But only if people of goodwill think out of the box a bit. After all, the ubiquitous proverb “where there is a will, there is a way” is one that is believed to have first been published in the year 1640 — that’s three hundred eighty six years back to be precise. 

Speaking of people of goodwill, I especially want to express gratitude to Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and New York State Assembly Member Keith Powers, for their leadership and tireless advocacy on this matter. Reinforcing and speaking for the local community’s clear desire, they have energetically brought attention to the importance of keeping an AMC movie theatre open and operating in Kips Bay.

In summary, this is a theatre that you in Kips Bay want to continue to be at your beck and call, and one that we at AMC unequivocally also want to be allowed to continue within our theatrical fleet.  

But time is short. Unless NYU Langone Health lets us delight the Kips Bay community beyond then, to comply with our terminated lease, the lights on AMC Kips Bay 15 will forevermore see their final sunset on January 3, a mere two and a half months from now. 

Hopefully, there is an outcome in which a wise workable solution is devised, one that will benefit and please the entire neighborhood. What say you NYU Langone Health?

Whatever happens, I want you to know how much AMC appreciates your support, your efforts and your voice. We are proud to have been part of the Kips Bay community since 1999, and I sincerely hope that we can continue to be part of it for years to come.

Sincerely,

Adam Aron

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
AMC Entertainment

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

(One of Two)

An Open Letter to the Kips Bay Community About the Future of AMC Kips Bay 15 in New York City

“AMC Does Not Want to Go. We Want to Stay.”

——-/////——-/////——-

To the Kips Bay Community,

Since news first broke that our popular AMC Kips Bay 15-screen movie theatre located at 570 Second Avenue in Manhattan will soon be forced against our will to close its doors, I’ve been struck by the extraordinary support that this AMC theatre has received from within the local surrounding community. 

So many moviegoers and neighbors, and importantly so many of your elected officials, have rallied around our theatre. (Given the central role that movie theatres play in the lives of so many New Yorkers, perhaps it is much better and more accurate to say that so many of you have rallied around YOUR theatre.) 

On behalf of everyone at AMC, thank you. Your support means a great deal to us, and especially to our theatre team members at AMC Kips Bay 15 who work tirelessly day-in and day-out to put smiles on your faces.

In thinking about this theatre, which has been a cultural icon and entertainment lifeline to so many nearby residents for decades and decades since its opening on May 14 1999, I want to make one thing absolutely clear:

AMC Theatres does not want to go. Not one little bit. AMC Theatres wants to stay in Kips Bay.

Operating under long term leases, there was a time that the monies headed each month to the theatre’s landlord had risen to become so high that the theatre’s long-term viability was uncertain. But, we were fortunate to have been successful in addressing those concerns in recent years. Today this theatre (one which has been in continuous operation for more than twenty five years) has a bright future — if we would be allowed to keep it.

Indeed, every day, thousands of guests watch a movie at AMC Kips Bay 15. It has become so popular of late that on several days this past summer, AMC Kips Bay 15 was repeatedly among the ten most attended movie theatres across the entire United States, out of the more than 500 theatres operated by AMC nationally.

In that light, this is a theatre that should not be even close to a permanent shutting off of its lights.

Of course, AMC wants this AMC movie theatre to stay in place.

And remembering how much and how often Americans love watching movies in theatres, a tradition in Manhattan that dates back more than a full century, we have heard from so many of you that you too want us to stay open for your benefit.

Apparently, NYU Langone Health does not share that view, not ours or not yours. 

Unfortunately, the decision to retain or end AMC’s tenure in Kips Bay is not ours to make. The nearby NYU Langone Health facility wants to expand, seems to be in the process of buying the building in which your (our) theatre now operates, and it wants us gone. In anticipation of such a transfer to NYU Langone, the current building’s owner has terminated our lease.

We have engaged with NYU Langone, suggesting any number of alternatives — including that it enlarge the current low-rise building to satisfy its desires for a growth of its medical facility but also leaving a theatre in place for you. Or alternatively, we offered that our theatre could get smaller, so that at the very least we could leave something remaining in place to continue to serve you. Sadly, any and all variations that we have proposed have fallen on closed minds. 

We call on NYU Langone Health to open their minds, to think creatively, and come up with a solution that will give the Kips Bay community BOTH of the two things that is wanted most of all: expanded facilities offering the world class medical care that is the hallmark of NYU Langone Health AND a fully functional AMC Theatre on Second Avenue.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

The Extraordinary Philadelphia 76ers Starting Five:

#7 Jaylen Brown
#0 Tyrese Maxey
#21 Joel Embiid
#23 LeBron James
#77 V. J. Edgecomb

Here come the Sixers !!!!!!

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

It’s no secret given my having been CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers 15 years ago, I am quite a Sixers fan. Tonight at the home opener, the 76ers trailed the Cavs by 29 points in the 1st half, but won the game by 8.

Watch out NBA! This year’s Philly roster is a sight to behold.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

Over the last
two months, AMC has stopped ticket scalpers on some 2,500 AMC movie theatre tickets!

Greedy malevolent speculators were trying to jack up prices above face to potential AMC guests.

I am proud of our team for standing up tall to defend AMC’s moviegoing public.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

I am not going away @vladtenev @DanGallagher

AMC Entertainment does not consent to Robinhood creating Stock Tokens to replicate AMC shares in the United States (the SEC requires you to get our consent, or failing that, at least with us to stand down). They are fake, synthetic shares, which could impact our capital structure.

AMC should control our financial destiny, not Robinhood.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

This weekend Netflix’s new movie La Bola Negra gets a theatrical release at AMC. It won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, and highly likely will be in Oscar contention.

It’s one of four Netflix films coming to AMC between now and year-end.

We are so pleased to showcase to you all the creativity and mastery of Netflix in our theatres.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

Hello again @vladtenev and @DanGallagher. So what’s Robinhood’s answer?

You claim to “support” the SEC’s new rules on Stock Tokenization efforts, as they apply in the United States.

Internationally, are you going to respect those same principals as laid out be the SEC?

Or shame, shame, shame, will your off-shore operation in far-off Jersey be a sleazy bastardization that makes a total mockery of what the SEC has demanded as being the right thing to do?

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

I had the privilege to be in Los Angeles this week at a dinner honoring Kevin Feige, President and Creative Director of Marvel Studios for two decades. What an incredible record of success is his. And we’re excited for his AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY on December 18!

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

Hey there @vladtenev and @DanGallagher: My voice will stay loud. You supported the SEC on U.S. stock tokens. They must carry voting rights, and companies can opt out. How hypocritical of Robinhood if not adopting those same principals offshore. Don’t spit in the face of the SEC.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

On Monday (9/21), SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce resigned her post effective October 2. That means there’ll be only 2 SEC Commissioners, out of the 5 mandated by law. Investors are best protected by an active vibrant SEC. I hope those 3 vacancies get addressed in the near term.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

What a privilege to host the black tie Royal Performance and World Premiere of Tom Cruise’s new movie Digger, at our Odeon Luxe Leicester Square cinema in London.

Attending: William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

Today was an important day in the history of Hollywood. State Attorneys General settled their anti-trust case, so Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Brothers will proceed.

I signed on to this transaction back in April because David Ellison pledged to make at least 30 movies per year (66% more than the number made by the two studios last year) and promised to respect theatrical windows.

Now with the AG action, those commitments and more will be backed up by a binding five year “Consent Decree.”

But I never had any doubt in David Ellison’s desire to support theatrical exhibition. In his heart, he is a consummate movie maker.

Want proof? Again watch Skydance’s Top Gun: Maverick, as I did this weekend.

And he has a highly able team of executives in place at both studios.

My prediction: Paramount and Warner will be in extraordinarily capable hands.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

I want to extend my highest praise to Paul Atkins, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, for the wise decision — perhaps a better characterization being the brilliant decision — he announced today on behalf of the SEC about Stock Tokens.

The SEC granted a five year period of experimentation on this topic in U.S. markets. In doing so, the SEC laid out some inviolate and unequivocally annumerated conditions:

The SEC highlighted that “Investor Protection Is Not Optional.” The SEC clearly laid out that even as it puts forward an “Innovation Exemption,” the SEC has an implicit right to govern on this issue. This means that at least within the U.S., there is an underpinning that appropriate regulatory bodies can regulate 
as they think is needed. I believe that over the last full century, investors have best been protected when U.S. regulatory bodies have been involved and U.S. securities laws have been applicable. Thank you, SEC.

The SEC also  emphasized  that there can be “No Synthetics.” Any such Stock Tokens must carry full voting and dividend rights. No synthetics is such a vital and basic concept. Thank you, SEC.

Also of crucial importance, the SEC mandated that “Issuers Can Object.” It said that issuers of stock must have the opportunity to object and prevent their security from being trading on a Tokenized Securities Venue if companies so choose. This puts companies in charge of their own securities and capital structures, not brokerage houses. Thank you, SEC.

I applaud what the SEC did today. Bravo!

And @vladtenev and @dangallagher I note that at Robinhood you accepted and supported the SEC’s ruling today. I call on you now to adhere to the exact same standards internationally. How hypocritical would it be if Robinhood’s stock tokens abroad were to differ materially from stock tokens in the U.S. on these hyper-important matters of investor protections, synthetics and issuer objections. 

Adam Aron
Chairman and CEO
AMC Entertainment

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

This is a video clip of the opening of the Emmy Awards Monday night.

What a tribute to our beloved Nicole Kidman, and her work on behalf of AMC Theatres.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

In my crosshairs as much as Robinhood’s shameful Stock Tokens and the trademark- infringing meme coins that they trade: dreaded TICKET SCALPERS.

So far, we have reclaimed more than 1,600 AMC tickets from resale sites posted there.

Scalpers beware, AMC is coming after you.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

Hey there @dangallagher, in the past week you and @vladtenev CEO of Robinhood have made public comments defending your use of and “standing behind” your relatively new Stock Token concept.

I think this practice is abhorrent. It defeats the very ethos of share ownership. Public financial markets were created so that companies could raise capital, and so that investors could share in the wealth created as a result. Not to turn investing instead merely into some gamified business-oriented casino.

If by your own admission you can’t offer or sell Stock Tokens to “U.S. persons” why does your U.S. web site talk about them so much and so favorably?

Vlad: How can a U.S. brokerage firm be proud of creating an offshore Channel Island operation in far off Jersey specifically with the intent to operate outside U.S. securities laws? Is there potential confusion that Stock Token purchasers are getting less than all the rights accorded to real shareholders, and if so do you care? If those tokens are theoretically backed 1:1 by real shares, but hypothetically some of those underlying real shares are in turn lent out to short sellers, are the Tokens really backed 1:1 in fact?

Dan: I think U.S. securities laws have protected the public very well over the past century. You spent much of your career at the SEC. Deep down, in your heart of hearts, how can you really think a world without the precautions imposed by U.S. securities laws creates a better, safer environment for investors?

Choose whatever descriptors you think best make sense under the circumstances: Non-regulated, derivative, synthetic, sham, debt-backed securities trying to simulate actual real stock, or pick your own words if these don’t fit.

Stock Tokens may make you an innovator in your own eyes. In my eyes, they bring your firm dishonor.

[Adam Aron @CEOAdam]

On this 25th anniversary of 9/11 comes this staggering aerial drone recreation of the World Trade Center twin towers. Some 2,977 drones over the lower Manhattan sky, the same number of fatalities that immediately resulted from that fateful attack.

With reverence, we remember.