Six Flags’ CEO search ended with a pick from outside the company, but well-known within the theme park industry: former SeaWorld executive John Reilly.
Reilly spent 34 years with SeaWorld and Busch Gardens chain, culminating in a stint as interim CEO between February 2018 and February 2019. That tenure saw SeaWorld record its first 12-month period of positive financial results in five years.
However, Reilly left soon after he was passed over for the permanent CEO role and moved to Spain-based Parque Reundios. His time at Parque Reunidos included a stint CEO of its U.S. division, Palace Entertainment, which was sold to Dollywood owner Herschend Family Entertainment earlier this year.
Reilly will assume the president and CEO roles, and join the Six Flags board, on December 8. He takes over an expanded theme park chain that has been reeling from poor financial results following its 2024 merger with Cedar Fair. In a statement, Reilly said: “The combination of Six Flags and Cedar Fair created an unrivaled collection of parks with immense opportunity, and I believe we can reach new heights and deliver significant near- and long-term growth. I am excited to deliver even greater experiences for our guests and value to our shareholders.”
So far, what most theme park guests have seen from the Six Flags-Cedar Fair merger has been sudden ride closures and repeated delays on new investments. The chain has already closed one park — Six Flags America — and has signaled that more are on the way.
“In a bigger company where we’re trying to narrow our focus and shrink our capital needs as well as our risk or our liability exposures, getting the portfolio smaller and more nimble is a priority,” Six Flags Chief Financial Officer Brian Witherow said on the company’s Nov. 7 earnings call. “So we’re going to look at the parks where our returns are the greatest, where the opportunities for growth are the highest, and we’re going to focus on those parks, and the other parks we’ll look to monetize and use those proceeds to reduce debt.”
Reilly will be replacing Richard Zimmerman, who became Six Flags’ CEO and president after serving in the same roles at Cedar Fair before the merger. Pre-merger Six Flags chief Selim Bassoul will also be leaving his role as executive chairman.