Adam Aron, an Abington native and AMC Theaters CEO, is loved by legions of online amateur stock traders, but remains a polarizing figure in Hollywood, writes Ryan Faughnder for Los Angeles Times.

AMC Theaters, which is one of the few “meme stocks,” has seen its shares trade high not based on the usual metrics such as profitability but the enthusiasm of online amateur stock traders. It reached that status thanks to Aron, who has become a folk hero.

One of the reasons for his popularity is his custom of reading ideas that come from retail investors’ tweets and incorporating them into the theater’s operations.

“I think it’s important to read these things, because it gives me a very good finger on the pulse and a sense of what is on the minds of the people who own AMC,” said Aron.

However, he has also made outlandish moves – such as the investment in a struggling gold mine in Nevada and the retail popcorn business – that his critics claim do more to boost the share price of AMC Theaters than help the movie business recover.

Read more about Adam Aron in Los Angeles Times.