In a move that surprised analysts, industry insiders and employees, Vail Resorts chief executive and chairman Adam Aron announced his resignation Monday, saying he’ll step down June 28, his 10-year anniversary with the company.
Aron, who declined to say what his next endeavor may be, said he wanted to leave Vail Resorts “as a winner.”
During his tenure, the company has gone public, expanded from two to five ski resorts, bought up thousands of luxury hotel rooms and branched into high-end real-estate development.
“I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished,” said Aron, 51. “It has been a great run.”
Vail Resorts’ stock, which sank as low as $11 in March 2003 but has traded at record highs recently, closed at $31.22, down $1.25, or 3.85 percent, for the day.
“I was in shock, but it’s a smart move,” said Ivan Feinseth, managing director at Matrix USA, a New York institutional research and brokerage firm. “He did a phenomenal job there. The shareholders should hold a big party for him and wish him luck.”
Aron, who previously served as an executive with United Airlines and Norwegian Cruise Line, said he made the decision to resign only in the past few days.
“It just seemed poetic to go out a winner on my 10th anniversary,” he said. “Everything is going right for Vail Resorts, and that is one of the reasons I am able to step down without concern.”
The company said its board has launched a search for Aron’s successor. It will consider internal and external candidates.
“Obviously, this is one of the more coveted positions not only in the ski industry but throughout the travel industry,” said Rob Perl man, president of trade group Colorado Ski Country USA.
Possible inside candidates include Bill Jensen, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Mountain, and Jeffrey Jones, chief financial officer.
Aron, whose total salary over the past nine years topped $6.6 million, was awarded bonuses in excess of $9.1 million, including $1.84 million to buy his five-bedroom home on the Beaver Creek Golf Course, which he put up for sale in recent weeks, along with millions of dollars’ worth of stock options.
“It’s more than I ever expected to earn in my life,” said Aron, who plans to remain at least a part-time resident of the Vail Valley.
Aron has reserved a $4.6 million unit in the Arrabelle at Vail Square, a $250 million luxury hotel and condo project being developed by the company. He announced in October that he would exercise 640,000 Vail Resorts stock options and sell the acquired stock to help pay for the 4,000-square-foot condo.
Aron joined the resort company just as it announced it would purchase the Keystone and Breckenridge ski areas from St. Louis-based Ralcorp Holdings. The company went on to buy the Grand Teton Lodge Co. in Jackson, Wyo., in 1999, luxury-hotel company RockResorts in 2001, and Heavenly Mountain Resort in Lake Tahoe, Calif., in 2002.
It also owns Beaver Creek and Vail, where it’s charging a rec ord $81 per adult lift ticket this winter.
Lead director Robert A. Katz thanked Aron for his leadership, saying in a statement that he “has brought a new level of sophistication to the mountain resort industry.”
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
Adam Aron file
Born: Sept. 30, 1954
Education: Harvard College, 1976; Harvard Business School, MBA, 1979
Career: 1979-85, Pan Am, variety of marketing positions; 1985-87, Western Airlines, vice president of marketing programs; 1987-90, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, senior vice president, marketing; 1990-93, United Airlines, senior vice president, marketing; 1993-96, Norwegian Cruise Line, president and chief executive; 1996-present, Vail Resorts, chairman and chief executive
What he earned
Aron’s executive compensation during his tenure at Vail Resorts (not including 2006):
Fiscal 2005: $749,346 salary; $924,000 bonus; 120,000 stock options
Fiscal 2004: $707,542 salary; $800,000 bonus; $341,100 in restricted shares; 120,000 stock options
Fiscal 2003: $704,615 salary, $3.1 million retention bonuses, including $1.8 million to buy a five-bedroom home on Beaver Creek Golf Course and $659,750 to buy a lot in the Bachelor Gulch development; $2.9 million in other compensation; 120,000 stock options
Fiscal 2002: $675,000 salary; $2.2 million worth of restricted shares; 120,000 stock options
Fiscal 2001: $671,942 salary; $540,000 bonus; $286,875 in restricted shares; 100,000 stock options
Fiscal 2000: $647,384 salary; $320,000 bonus; 125,000 stock options
Fiscal 1999: $634,618 salary; 60,000 stock options
Fiscal 1998: $529,181 salary; $120,000 bonus; $109,066 in relocation expenses
Fiscal 1997: $560,000 salary; $250,000 bonus; 200,000 stock options
Fiscal 1996: $75,385 salary; $44,231 bonus; $750,000 in restricted shares
Total salary: More than $6.6 million
Total bonuses: More than $9.1 million
Shares of Vail Resorts stock: More than 132,000; value of exercisable stock options as of July 31, 2005, was $8.2 million
Source: Vail Resorts
