Cineworld boss Steve Wiener bows out

The founder of Cineworld today lowered the curtain on his 44 years in the cinema industry.

Steve Wiener, an American whose first job was a cinema usher, said that after 18 years at helm of Cineworld, which he founded with his wife in 1995, “it is time to move on and enjoy the fruits of success in building the UK’s top cinema chain”.

Wiener, who owns a 1.3% stake in Cineworld worth £7 million, plans to leave in March, with an announcement on his replacement in due course.

He said: “In 1995, my wife Jenny and I wrote a business plan to start a cinema company. We expected over a five-year period to open five to seven multiplex cinemas and sell it on to one of the big operators. Today, in 2013, Cineworld is the number one cinema chain in the UK, and has been for more than three years.”

The chief executive, who is 62, has been dividing his time between Florida and London and has family in the US. He has said he will “never stop working” but wanted to stop full-time employment.

Wiener first moved to Europe in 1991 as managing director of Warner Bros. After going it alone to set up Cineworld, he oversaw its flotation in 2006 and expansion to a chain of 77 multiplexes.

The fourth quarter is expected to be tough for cinema after the success last year of James Bond blockbuster Skyfall. Panmure Gordon tips Cineworld’s box-office receipts to fall 10%, bringing annual admissions to 168 million — the lowest since the recession began.