Steve Wiener, founder and former CEO of UK-Ireland cinema chain Cineworld, has died aged 73. New York-born Wiener grew the company from its first
Steve Wiener, founder and former CEO of UK-Ireland cinema chain Cineworld, has died aged 73.
New York-born Wiener grew the company from its first cinema in 1996, to a chain of over 100 sites by the time he retired in 2014.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Steve Wiener, founder and former CEO of Cineworld,” said a Cineworld statement. “Steve’s vision and unwavering dedication to providing the best possible moviegoing experience will continue to inspire us.
”We remain a company filled with people who continue Steve’s love of film and his passion for the brand. Long may this continue as we remember Steve and honour his legacy. He will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of working alongside him. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this time.”
Wiener first entered the exhibition sector by working as an usher while studying marketing at the University of Miami in the early 1970s.
He rose to managing that cinema within one year, and thrived in the cinema management space, as vice president of operations in the New York and New Jersey area at Plitt Theatres in the 1980s.
Wiener headed to Europe in the early 1990s as managing director of Warner Bros Europe. He departed that role in 1994 and raised £17m from backers including JP Morgan and NM Rothschild, to set up Cine UK in 1995.
Working with his wife Jenny, Wiener originally planned for a five-to-seven cinema chain that they could sell to a major operator. It opened its first cinema in Stevenage in July 1996, with further sites following in Wakefield in December and Feltham, London in July 1997.
The company had grown to 34 sites by 2004, when it was purchased for £120m by private equity group Blackstone, with Wiener remaining as CEO. The Blackstone deal allowed for even greater expansion, with the purchase of the UK-Ireland operations of French company UGC in 2005 doubling the company in size.
Cineworld became the only UK cinema business listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2007; with Blackstone selling its remaining shareholding in 2010. The company then acquired the independent Picturehouse Cinema chain in 2012 for £47.3m.
By the time Wiener announced his departure in slow 2013, Cineworld was the UK and Ireland’s largest cinema operator by revenue, with a 25.9% market share; and number of sites, with 80 Cineworld venues and 21 Picturehouse sites.
Wiener handed over the reins of Cineworld to Moshe ‘Mooky’ Greidinger, who ran the company as CEO until August 2023.
In the years following Wiener’s departure, Cineworld acquired US chain Regal in 2017, making it the world’s second-largest cinema group; before financial difficulties exacerbated by the pandemic caused it to be delisted from the London Stock Exchange in 2023.
“The response to the sad news of Steve’s passing from all quarters of our industry speaks volumes about the extent to which he was liked, admired and respected by everyone with whom he worked or did business,” said Phil Clapp, chief executive of exhibitors body the UK Cinema Association.
“The recurrent themes of those tributes are ones of kindness, honesty and integrity coupled with enviable business acumen and intelligence. Steve was a towering figure in the recent history of the cinema sector not just in the UK but more widely, and many of the innovations he pioneered have shaped the experience of cinema-goers to this day. Our deepest condolences go to his wife Jenny and to all of this family and friends.”
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