Avi Arad (Hebrew: אבי ארד) is an Israeli-American businessman. He became the CEO of the company Toy Biz in the 1990s, and soon afterward became the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, a Marvel director, and chairman, CEO and the founder of Marvel Studios.
Born in Ramat Gan, Israel, and raised in that country, 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.
Along with Toy Biz co-owner Isaac Perlmutter, Avi Arad came into conflict with Carl Icahn and Ron Perelman over control of Marvel Comics in the wake of its 1996 bankruptcy. In the end, Arad and Perlmutter came out on top, with Toy Biz taking over Marvel Comics in a complicated deal that included obtaining the rights to Spider Man and other superheroes that Marvel had sold earlier. He was involved in Marvel's emergence from bankruptcy and the expansion of the company's profile through licensing and movies.
On July 4, 2003, Arad became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Arad is credited as executive producer on the 1990s Marvel animated TV series, starting with 1992's X-Men for Fox Kids. Arad was the executive producer of Spike TV's Blade: The Series.
On May 31, 2006, Arad resigned his various Marvel positions, including his leadership of Marvel Studios to form his own production company, Avi Arad Productions. Although he is still producing projects for Marvel, his first feature outside Marvel was the August 2007 film Bratz: The Movie. His second venture will be an adaptation of the manga Ghost in the Shell.
