AMC CEO Adam Aron cashed out $25 million of shares - after warning the meme stock's fans about the sales months ago

• AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron cashed out $25 million of his stock in the company.
• The movie-theater chain's boss telegraphed the sales in August as part of his estate planning.

AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron sold 625,000 shares of the movie-theater chain at an average price of about $41 on Tuesday, netting himself $25 million, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing revealed this week.

The AMC boss made the disposals under a prearranged trading plan, which he flagged to analysts during an earnings call in August. Aron - who turned 67 in September - noted that 85% of his net worth was in AMC stock earlier this year, and he wanted to diversify his assets as part of his estate planning.

"I don't want any of you ever to think that I have anything but full confidence in AMC's future," he said, addressing the passionate retail investors who have driven the meme stock up 1,800% this year.

The sales reduced Aron's AMC holdings to 408,000 shares, worth $16 million as of Wednesday's close. He's set to receive 1.3 million shares if he stays with the company long enough, and another 1.6 million shares if he achieves future performance goals, giving him a total potential stake of 3.3 million shares.

Aron's trading plan indicates he may sell a total of 1.25 million shares over time, The Wall Street Journal reported.

AMC shares slumped 4% on Wednesday, and fell as much as 2% in premarket trading on Thursday.

The cinema group has rebounded strongly since the pandemic shuttered most of its business, its third-quarter earnings showed this week. Its sales soared more than 500% year-on-year to $763 million, thanks to admissions, food and beverage, screen advertising, and other revenue streams surging as people returned to theaters.

AMC's comeback meant its net loss narrowed by 75% year-on-year to $224 million. Its cash reserves also quintupled to $1.6 billion in the nine months to September 30, after the company capitalized on its meme-stock status by issuing shares.