The CEO has tanked company earnings during his tenure. He has no experience in this industry. He talks a lot about his time at Middleby but has no chance of replicating that success at Six Flags. Selim has mandated all parks purchase industrial food equipment from his previous employer, usually priced significantly higher than comparable hardware sourced elsewhere. Where's the ethics committee?
Shortly after taking over last fall, he made the following comments at a company dinner during the IAAPA trade show in November:
"I like when employees buy houses they can't afford because they will work harder."
"I like to hire families because they will talk about the business at home."
" I wish we didn't need HR."
Competitors are thriving while this CEO's arrogant moves (increased pricing, eliminating marketing, legacy team member terminations) have caused the stock to crumble during his regime. The corporate talking point has been "all companies are seeing a downturn in their stock price- it's not just Six Flags." Our competitors have not seen such a drastic decline.
Team members have been asked to do less with more. The CEO said in a town hall meeting that reductions in the workforce would be swift and done in one fell swoop. His actions have not held to this statement. The field is constantly being pressured to reduce full-time headcount. Changes at the corporate office are made in a vacuum- we don't know someone is gone until you try contacting them, only to have your email bounce back.
It was clear that parks need to achieve 200% of their EBITDA targets to succeed. We haven't heard that buzzphrase in months since it's very apparent nobody will receive a bonus this year. Our compensation is significantly lower than in previous years, and we all have to work longer hours to get work done. Selim promised to "spread the wealth" among the smaller teams, but most team members will take home a lot less than last year.
The company offers stock options in place of meaningful compensation, and the stock price is worth a fraction of the value before Selim became CEO.
Members of the Six Flags leadership council are fed up. Field management is rallying together and will not rest until the board selects a new CEO or Selim resigns.