AMC executives made millions selling their shares last week amid dizzying meme-stock rally
- Six AMC executives made more than $8 million in total after selling 150,000 shares, filings show.
- Carla Chavarria took home the most with a $2.53 million profit from selling more than 40,000 shares.
- The executives cashed in late last week after AMC jumped to record highs.
Six AMC Entertainment executives took home more than $8 million last week after selling shares of the company amid a massive rally for the company's stock.
Friday filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the six movie-theater executives - John McDonald, Gary Locke, Carla Chavarria, Daniel Ellis, Elizabeth Frank, Anthony Saich - offloaded more than 150,000 shares after the meme stock closed the week 83% higher on the back of enthusiasm from retail traders.
Chavarria, the chief human resources officer, took home the highest profit with $2.53 million in proceeds from selling 40,346 shares at $62.67 apiece, the filing showed.
McDonald, the executive vice president of US operations, and Locke, a board member up for re-election at the company's annual meeting according to Bloomberg, took home the next highest profit of about $1.7 million.
Saich, a board member, Ellis, senior vice president of development, and Frank, the chief content officer, made less than a million each on their share sales, the filings showed.
AMC, the world's largest movie-theater operator, jumped 17% after the market opened Monday.
The company drove a rally in meme stocks last week as an army of retail traders poured into the stock. Shares of AMC, which is about 80% owned by individual investors, have risen more than 2,300% so far this year.
Retail traders, banded together on Twitter and popular Reddit investing threads like Wall Street Bets, have backed the stock in an effort to drive a short squeeze. According to MarketBeat data, the stock has a 21% short interest rate.
The stock saw renewed interest in late May after AMC's largest shareholder, the private Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, sold almost all of its remaining stake. Retail traders cheered the opportunity to buy more into the stock.
Then last week, hedge fund Mudrick Capital dumped millions of AMC shares shortly after announcing an agreement to buy them, saying the stock was overvalued. Retail traders drove a record rally in the stock the next day despite the move. The stock pared gains for the week Thursday and Friday after the company announced a new share sale.