Avi Arad

'72, B.B.A.
former CEO Marvel Entertainment

Until recently, Avi Arad was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marvel Studios, the film and television division of Marvel Entertainment, and Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment. In June of 2006, Arad branched off to form his own production company, which includes some of Marvel¹s most renowned properties, such as Iron Man, Hulk and Spider-Man. Arad has been the driving force behind Marvel's Hollywood renaissance with a track record that has been nothing short of spectacular, including a string of eight consecutive No. 1 box office openings. As an executive producer and producer, his credits include Spider-Man and its sequel, Spider-Man 2 (Columbia Pictures), which set an industry record for opening day box office receipts; X-Men, X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand (Twentieth Century Fox); The Hulk (Universal Pictures); Daredevil (New Regency); The Punisher (Lions Gate Entertainment); Blade, Blade II and Blade: Trinity (New Line Cinema); Elektra (Twentieth Century Fox); and The Fantastic Four (Twentieth Century Fox). Mr. Arad's current live-action feature film slate includes Ghost Rider (Columbia Pictures), Spider-Man 3 (Columbia Pictures), Fantastic Four 2 (Twentieth Century Fox), and Bratz: The Movie (Lionsgate) - all slated for 2007 - and Iron Man (Paramount Pictures) and The Incredible Hulk (Universal) - slated for 2008.

Born in Cyprus and raised in Israel, Arad came to the United States during his college years and enrolled at Hofstra University to study industrial management. He earned a bachelor of business administration from the University in 1972. A long-established expert in youth entertainment, Arad is one of the world¹s top toy designers. He has been involved in the creation and development of over two hundred successful products, including action figures, play sets, dolls, toy vehicles, electronic products, educational software and video games. In fact, virtually every major toy and youth entertainment manufacturer, including Toy Biz, Hasbro, Mattel, Nintendo, Tiger, Ideal, Galoob, Tyco and Sega, has been selling his products for more than 20 years.