The presidents at Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain have been let go as part of the continuing fallout from the $8 billion merger that combined Six Flags and Cedar Fair into a North American amusement park juggernaut.
Six Flags has laid off Knott’s president Jon Storbeck and Magic Mountain president Jeff Harris, according to Six Flags officials. Both will remain in their roles through the end of May.
ALSO SEE: Six Flags begins selling off amusement parks
The president positions are being eliminated at all 27 amusement parks in the chain and the roles will not be filled, according to Six Flags officials. Some park presidents will remain with the company in other roles.
“Six Flags Entertainment recently moved to a new regional operating structure,” according to a statement from Six Flags. “Under this new alignment, we have centralized certain functions and responsibilities at the corporate level. The company also made some changes to the roles and responsibilities of park leaders, sharpening the parks’ focus on execution, the guest experience and associates.”
The leadership layoffs are part of a 10% staff reduction in full-time employees across the company, according to Six Flags officials.
Four California parks — Knott’s, Magic Mountain, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and California’s Great America — will eliminate or reclassify 135 full-time positions.
“Eligible associates will be presented with either an opportunity to continue in a part-time role or will be provided a severance package,” according to a statement from Six Flags. “The bulk of this restructuring should be completed by the end of June.”
Jon Storbeck, vice president and general manager of Knott’s Berry Farm, in Calico Park in Buena Park, CA, on Thursday, December 17, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)Storbeck joined Knott’s in 2016 after more than 30 years of working for Disney. Storbeck started at Disneyland after college as a ride operator and rose to the top ranks — serving as vice president of Downtown Disney and Disney’s three Anaheim hotels.
Storbeck earned a spot in the Orange County Register’s list of the 100 most influential people for 2020 for his reinvention of the Buena Park theme park into a socially distanced food festival venue during the COVID-19 crisis.
ALSO SEE: What Cedar Fair-Six Flags $8 billion merger means for Knott’s and Magic Mountain
Harris became Magic Mountain president in 2023 after a 30-year career at Six Flags that included more than a decade at Six Flags Over Georgia overseeing the park’s finance department.
Harris started his Six Flags career at Magic Mountain as a food service cashier and host before working his way up into the payroll and accounts departments at the Valencia amusement park.
ALSO SEE: Six Flags Magic Mountain permanently closes Superman coaster
Former Cedar Fair CEO Matt Ouimet commented on his LinkedIn account about the latest round of layoffs at Six Flags.
“This die was cast when the merger agreement was signed,” Ouimet wrote on LinkedIn. “It isn’t because the business or the individuals were performing poorly. This is purely math.”
The former Disneyland president served as Cedar Fair CEO from 2011 to 2017, when Richard Zimmerman took over as CEO. Zimmerman became CEO of the new Six Flags after the merger.
ALSO SEE: Six Flags spending millions on Magic Mountain water park makeover
Ouimet stepped down from the Cedar Fair Board of Directors about a year before the July 2024 merger of Six Flags and Cedar Fair — choosing to retire before having to vote on the merger.
“I recognized that I wasn’t up to watching talented colleagues being asked to exit in order to achieve the cost synergies that were promised to investors,” Ouimet wrote on LinkedIn. “In recent days that parade of departures has stepped off. Several of the industry’s best are marching into the unknown on a timeline not of their choosing.”
The Six Flags cuts that began this week and will continue for the next week or so are expected to be felt across all the parks in the newly merged chain, according to Screamscape editor Lance Hart.
Related Articles
Six Flags begins selling off amusement parks Six Flags Magic Mountain improves its pizza, burgers and fried chicken Busch Gardens brings back the Big Bad Wolf with a new coaster Six Flags spending millions on Magic Mountain water park makeover Why Disneyland and Universal are offering huge summer discounts Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Six Flags lays off Knott’s and Magic Mountain presidents )
Also on site :
- 105 'Magical' Baby Names for Your Little Spell Caster
- Why Sarah Michelle Gellar Wants Maya Hawke to Help Out Her Teenage Daughter (Exclusive)
- ‘Honey Don’t!’ Review: Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans Get Stranded in Ethan Coen’s Wayward Whodunit