Richard A. Zimmerman to Step Down as Six Flags CEO by the End of 2025
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: FUN) (“Six Flags” or the “Company”), the largest regional amusement park operator in North America, today announced that Richard A. Zimmerman, president and chief executive officer (“CEO”) and member of the Six Flags Board of Directors (the “Board”), will step down as the Company’s president and CEO by the end of 2025.
To ensure leadership continuity and a smooth transition, Zimmerman will continue to serve as president and CEO until the Board has appointed a successor. He will also continue to serve as a director on the Company’s Board. The Six Flags Board of Directors has initiated a process to identify the Company’s next CEO with the assistance of a leading global executive search firm, and both internal and external candidates will be considered.
“On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Richard for his leadership and contributions since the successful merger of the legacy Cedar Fair and Six Flags companies last July, and for his unwavering passion and dedication to our industry over the last 38 years,” said Selim Bassoul, executive chairman of the Board. “As CEO, Richard has successfully led Six Flags through a period of significant evolution, with a clear vision to optimize the Company to deliver greater value to our guests, associates, and our shareholders. Despite recent economic uncertainty and weather headwinds, we are confident Six Flags has the right strategy in place to drive meaningful long-term growth and achieve our objectives of increasing Adjusted EBITDA, reducing net leverage, and successfully delivering on integration efforts to create value for shareholders.”
“The Company has significantly evolved since I first joined what was then Paramount Parks, Inc. in 1987, and it has been an honor to have led such talented teams through critical and transformative periods over the years – not only for our company, but for the entire amusement park industry,” said Zimmerman. “Since completing the merger of legacy Cedar Fair and legacy Six Flags a little more than a year ago, we have made significant progress on our integration efforts and cost synergy goals. That said, there remains an immense opportunity to further optimize the portfolio and unlock the full value of the Company’s unique assets and intellectual property. We are reaching more guests than ever before and continuing to advance our strategic priorities, which I am confident will enable Six Flags to drive tremendous value creation over the long term. Together we have built a global leader in family entertainment with a resilient business model and bright prospects, and I look forward to supporting the team to help ensure the Company achieves its full potential.”
“The Board and management team are committed to ensuring a smooth transition, and we are grateful that we’ll continue to benefit from Richard’s experience and perspective throughout this process,” continued Bassoul. “The Board will work closely with Richard to conduct a thorough and comprehensive search to identify the best individual to lead Six Flags into the future. We are focused on identifying a strong leader with a proven track record of operating successfully at scale while defining and executing a growth strategy driven by innovation, operational excellence, and world-class talent development.”
Second Quarter Results
News of Zimmerman’s departure from Six Flags comes the same day as the company’s lackluster second quarter 2025 results. Six Flags recorded their net loss at $100 million with attendance down 9% (1.4 million) when compared to the same period last year. Other factors include a season pass base that is down 8% (579,000) when compared to last year.
Weather impact has been pinpointed by Six Flags as a major issue, stating unfavorable conditions across most of their key markets. Overall, 379 days out of a planned 2,042 total operating days in the second quarter were weather impacted days, including 49 days in which certain parks were forced to close entirely. Of the weather impacted days, approximately 60% occurred on the typically higher attendance days of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Six Flags also provided statistics regarding July 2025 results. Consolidated net revenues for the five-week period are down 3% compared to last year’s same time span. However, attendance is up 1%. July 2025 still saw in-park spending and active season pass numbers short of 2024 reports.
“The start of the 2025 season, including our second quarter results reported today, fell significantly short of our expectations, a disappointing outcome given the solid progress we achieved post-merger with smart, early-stage initiatives coupled with a very compelling capital program designed to kickstart the 2025 season and perpetuate the momentum we had created over the second half of 2024,” said Six Flags CEO Richard Zimmerman. “The decrease in attendance in the quarter reflects a drop in single-day ticket sales, fewer sales of season passes and memberships, and lower renewal rates on season passes. Our sales cycle was negatively impacted by exogenous events such as poor weather and a challenged consumer across most of our North American markets. On the cost front, even a pull forward of marketing and maintenance expenses into the second quarter failed to produce a meaningful change in near-term demand as we sought to offset the impact of macro challenges we were facing in real time.
“We believe the early-season headwinds were transient and, therefore, will lean into the strength and resiliency of our business model over the second half,” continued Zimmerman. “That includes being focused on our priorities of growing Adjusted EBITDA, reducing net leverage, and successfully completing our integration efforts.”
Zimmerman noted a stark improvement in performance as the company kicked off the third quarter. “As weather normalized in July demand for our parks has measurably improved, which we believe underscores the long-term effectiveness of our 2025 capital program and other strategic initiatives. Over the past four weeks, combined attendance was up more than 300,000 visits or 4% on a year-over-year basis, highlighted by an increase of more than 290,000 visits or 5% at our 15 largest locations. In addition to improving attendance trends, the recent launch of our 2026 season pass sales program has produced solid early results reflective of pent-up consumer demand. These strong performance metrics are consistent with our expectations that as weather normalizes and visitation urgency increases in the second half of the year, demand will continue to accelerate.”
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