The Six Flags Slide Continues as the Company Loses Another Top Executive

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The Six Flags Slide Continues as the Company Loses Another Top Executive

in Six Flags, Theme Parks

Posted on October 11, 2025October 11, 2025 by Rick Lye

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The X2 roller coaster with multiple rows of riders twists through the sky against a backdrop of clouds. The passengers show a mix of excitement and thrill, with their hands up or gripping the restraints. The coaster is red with black and silver accents at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Credit: Six Flags Magic Mountain

During its first quarter earnings report this year, Six Flags Entertainment, North America’s largest theme park company, told investors that attendance declined 17 percent. At the time, CEO Richard Zimmerman told investors that inclement weather was to blame for the slow start to the season, as rainstorms nationwide slowed guests’ visits to the parks.

A roller coaster at Six Flags America — Credit: Six Flags

With those numbers in the rearview mirror, Zimmerman hoped to deliver better news when he met with investors to give the company’s second-quarter earnings, but it was not to be, and Zimmerman paid the price for Six Flags’ decline.

During the second quarter earnings call, Zimmerman told investors that Six Flags saw a $100 million revenue decline, a nine percent attendance decline, and an eight percent season pass purchase decline. Before announcing the numbers, Zimmerman told investors he would step down as CEO as soon as the Board could find a replacement.

People riding a green and orange Six Flags roller coaster climb up the track, surrounded by steel beams and a blue sky. The excited riders are clearly enjoying this thrilling amusement park experience. — Credit: Six Flags

Now, the Six Flags decline has claimed another victim in upper management. This week, Six Flags executive chairman Selim Bassoul announced that he would be stepping down from the company at the end of the year.

Six Flags had already cut hundreds of management positions earlier this year to streamline the company after the merger with Cedar Fair, but now it is losing two of its top executives. Six Flags also cuts hundreds of in-park positions, as well as park offerings for the upcoming Halloween and Christmas seasons at some parks nationwide.

Batman: The Ride, an intricate blue and black roller coaster, twists and turns against a clear sky at Six Flags Over Georgia. — Credit: Six Flags

With this latest loss for Six Flags, fans are growing even more concerned about the company’s future and its theme parks. With more top executives leaving the company, this could mean that new management will sell or close some of the company’s remaining parks.

Dennis Speigel, a consultant who has studied the amusement park industry for decades and is the president of International Theme Park Services in Cincinnati, told Cleveland.com that the company only has two choices to get back to solvency: sell up to half of its parks or declare bankruptcy. Neither option is optimal, but Speigel believes Six Flags could unload 10-12 parks to help balance its books.