{{short description|Israeli businessman (born 1952)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Use British English|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Mooky Greidinger | image = | caption = | native_name = מוקי גרידינגר | native_name_lang = he | birth_name = Moshe Joseph Greidinger | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|12|12|df=y}} | birth_place = Haifa, Israel | death_date = | death_place = | education = Hebrew University of Jerusalem | occupation = Businessman | known for = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | mother = Dahlia Greidinger | relatives = | website = }} '''Moshe "Mooky" Joseph Greidinger''' ({{Langx|he|מוקי גרידינגר}}; born 12 December 1952<ref>{{Cite news |last=Meddings |first=Sabah |date=26 September 2021 |title=Cineworld boss Mooky Greidinger: I’ll screen Netflix films in cinemas |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/cineworld-boss-mooky-greidinger-ill-screen-netflix-films-in-cinemas-2cd630zqm |work=The Sunday Times |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210926111611/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cineworld-boss-mooky-greidinger-ill-screen-netflix-films-in-cinemas-2cd630zqm |archive-date=26 September 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>) is an Israeli businessman. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Cineworld, the world's second largest cinema chain.<ref name= Our>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cineworldplc.com/en/about-us/our-board/board |title=Our Board |website=CineworldPLC.com |access-date=24 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2020/04/mooky-greidinger-cineworld-regal-trolls-world-tour-interview-coronavirus-1202899758/ |title=Cineworld Boss Mooky Greidinger On Coronavirus Impact, Staying Optimistic & Why Overseas Markets Will Need Domestic To Open Before Ramping Into Action |first1=Nancy |last1=Tartaglione |work=Deadline Hollywood |date=6 April 2020}}</ref> Together with his brother Israel, they owned 29% of the company. On 31 July 2023, it was announced that Mooky and his brother will leave Cineworld, after the company entered Chapter 11 process in September 2022. His family has had interests in the cinema business since the 1930s.
==Early life, family and education== Moshe Joseph Greidinger, known as "Mooky", was born in Haifa<ref name= filmjournal>{{cite web| url= http://fj.webedia.us/features/expanding-cineworld-mooky-greidinger-earns-cinemacon-global-honor| title= Expanding Cineworld: Mooky Greidinger earns CinemaCon global honor |first= Kevin |last= Lally | work= FilmJournal International| via= fj.webedia.us |date= 8 April 2016| access-date= 24 February 2021}}</ref> to Dahlia Greidinger née Katzenelbogen-Katz (1926–1979), a scientist who helped develop the country's chemical industry, and Kalman Kenneth "Kenny" Greidinger, whose father Moshe Greidinger and mother Rebecca Chissick Greidinger had emigrated from Romania and had business interests in food, shipping, and real estate.<ref name="Globes">{{Cite web|url=https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-first-haifa-then-tel-aviv-then-the-world-1001313569|title=First Haifa, then Tel Aviv, then the world| first1= Zeela |last1= Kotler Hadari | first2= Assaf |last2= Uni| date=5 January 2020|work=Globes |language=en}}</ref> Mooky has a brother, Israel, who works alongside him.<ref name="Globes" /><ref name= scheme>{{cite news| url= https://news.yahoo.com/cineworld-shareholders-approve-controversial-284m-163621332.html| title= Cineworld Shareholders Approve Controversial $284M Incentivized Bonus Scheme| first= Tom |last= Grater| date= 25 January 2021| website= news.yahoo.com| access-date= 24 February 2021}}</ref>
Greidenger graduated from the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa, Israel in 1970. He later studied economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.imsp.pl/?pid=22&PHPSESSID=5b612838d78486dfb5f94070c15ad4e9| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110728042028/http://www.imsp.pl/?pid=22&PHPSESSID=5b612838d78486dfb5f94070c15ad4e9| archive-date= 28 July 2011| title= Management Board |date=28 July 2011 |website= imsp.pl| publisher= Cinema City International NV| url-status= unfit| access-date= 24 February 2021}}</ref>
==Career== Greidenger's paternal grandfather Moshe Greidinger invested in his first cinema, Ein Dor, in Hadar, Haifa, in 1930.<ref name="Globes" /><ref name=ft/> He opened the Armon cinema in Haifa in 1935.<ref name="Globes"/> After his death in 1946, his son Kenny expanded the cinema business.<ref name="Globes"/> Young Mooky worked at the ticket desk, in the projection room, and as an usher in his father's cinemas throughout his school years.<ref name=ft/> He joined his father's business in 1976, and encouraged the company—now called Cinema City International—to expand overseas with a location in Hungary in 1997.<ref name=ft/>
In May 2014, Greidinger joined the board of directors of Cineworld as CEO, having previously been CEO of Cinema City International.<ref name= Our /> Cinema City International was Europe's third largest cinema operator until its takeover by Cineworld in 2014. Following the takeover, Cinema City owned 24.9% of the combined Cineworld group.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://archiwum.thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/158245,UK-group-to-merge-with-Cinema-City-International|title=UK group to merge with Cinema City International| website=Polskie Radio dla Zagranicy| agency= | date= 10 January 2014}}</ref> In 2017, Cineworld announced its agreement to acquire Regal Entertainment Group for $3.6 billion, giving it more than 9,500 screens in 10 countries.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55609324/the-boston-globe/|title=UK firm to acquire US theaters| first= Chad| last= Bray| agency= The New York Times |date=6 December 2017| work=The Boston Globe |page= B10 |via= Newspapers.com}}</ref>
In 2020, Cineworld was due to buy Canada's Cineplex Entertainment for US$2.1 billion, making it the world's largest cinema chain (ahead of AMC Theatres) with over 11,000 screens.<ref name="Globes"/> However, on 12 June 2020, Cineworld abandoned the takeover before the end of June deadline, citing "certain breaches" of contract, and a legal battle is likely.<ref name="CBC">{{cite news |title=Cineworld scraps $2.8-billion takeover of Canada's Cineplex, setting up legal battle |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cineworld-takeover-cineplex-termination-1.5573054 |access-date=23 June 2020 |work= CBC.ca |date=12 June 2020}}</ref> In July Cineworld sued Cineplex for $1.1 billion in damages; Cineplex planned to counter-sue for around $12 million.<ref name=ft>{{cite web |url=https://www.ft.com/content/7a74a2e2-cb41-4d0a-a500-8025cd2e419f|title=Mooky Greidinger 'a cinema guy over and out'|first=Alice|last=Hancock|date=10 July 2020|access-date=18 July 2020|work=Financial Times}}</ref>
As of January 2020, Greidinger and his brother Israel Greidinger, who is deputy CEO of the company,<ref name= scheme /> own 29% of Cineworld.<ref name= "Globes"/> According to a ''Globes'' article of January 2020, "Those who know the Greidingers say they are not so much consumed with making money as becoming the world's number one cinema chain".<ref name="Globes"/>
In March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the attendance at the theaters decreased dramatically, and many were forced to be closed. This resulted in a major drop in Cineworld business, and in September 2022 it applied for bankruptcy protection at a US court.<ref name=reuters>{{cite web |url= https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/cineworld-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy-2022-09-07|title=Movie chain operator Cineworld files for U.S. bankruptcy |date=7 September 2022}}</ref>
In July 2023, it was announced that Greidinger would be stepping down as chief executive of Cineworld.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Callum |date=13 July 2023 |title=New boss to lead Cineworld out of bankruptcy as family step aside |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/new-boss-to-lead-cineworld-out-of-bankruptcy-as-family-step-aside-dlqgbd7jb |access-date=15 July 2023 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref>
==Personal life== Greidinger resides in Haifa, Israel.<ref name="Globes"/> He has two sons and one daughter. His son, Idan, has a management position in the company.<ref name="Globes"/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greidinger, Mooky}} Category:Hebrew Reali School alumni Category:Israeli Jews Category:Israeli chief executives Category:Businesspeople from Haifa Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Category:Living people Category:1952 births Category:21st-century Israeli businesspeople Category:Israeli businesspeople in the entertainment industry