Avi Arad

Avi Arad (אבי ארד; born August 1, 1948) is an Israeli American businessman who 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 the chairman, CEO and founder of Marvel Studios.

Early life and career
Arad was born and raised in Ramat Gan, Israel, to a Jewish family. The son of Holocaust survivors from Poland, he grew up reading Superman and Spider-Man comics translated into Hebrew. In 1965, he was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He fought in and was wounded in the 1967 Six-Day War, and spent 15 days recuperating. Arad finished his military service in 1968.

In 1970, Arad moved to the United States and enrolled at Hofstra University to study industrial management. He worked as a truck driver and Hebrew teacher to put himself through college, and graduated with a BBA in 1972.

Marvel Comics
Along with Israeli-American 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.

Later career
On May 31, 2006, Arad resigned his various Marvel positions, including his leadership of Marvel Studios to form his own production company, Arad Productions. Although he is still producing projects for Marvel, his first feature outside Marvel was the August 2007 film Bratz. Future ventures include: manga adaptation Ghost in the Shell; an adaption of Brandon Mull's best-seller teenage fantasy, Fablehaven; an adaption of James Patterson's award-winning teenage novel Maximum Ride; the adaptations of two Sony PlayStation properties, Uncharted and infamous, and an adaptation of Hideo Kojima's video game Metal Gear Solid.

On August 25, 2010, it was announced that Arad was given a chair with the American branch of animation studio Production I.G in Los Angeles, California.