When Selim Bassoul became CEO of Six Flags Entertainment (SIX) last November, he said that he was excited to "bring the magic back to our parks."
"I am passionate about empowering employees and serving our customers," Bassoul, who succeeded Mike Spanos, said in a statement. "[And] together with our team, I know we can set up Six Flags for a new level of success in the months and years ahead.”
'Morale Is at an All-Time Low'
But magic lately seems in short supply at the Arlington, Texas, company. And if social media are any indicator, employees aren't feeling empowered at all.
Anonymous writers who claim to be Six Flags workers recently took to Reddit to demand that Bassoul step down from the company's top post.
"When Selim first took over the company, I was nervous, but hopeful that Mike Spanos’ rehabilitation of the parks would be continued," one person wrote. "It has become increasingly evident that this is not the case. Throughout my tenure here at Six Flags, I’ve seen our operations generally neglected, ESPECIALLY food service, which is shambles. It has only gotten worse."
Another post said Bassoul had made some good points at a virtual town-hall meeting, "but much of what he went on about was absolutely ridiculous and laughable."
"Morale is at an all-time low at Six Flags," the post stated. "We've lost a lot of great people to reductions in workforce and other great, skilled team members are preparing to leave because they aren't happy working for Six Flags anymore and they can't afford to continue working for Six Flags."
Six Flags did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'Discounted Too Much'
Prior to coming to Six Flags, Bassoul was chairman, president and CEO of Middleby Corp. (MIDD), a residential cooking and industrial process equipment company. The Reddit posts complained about his lack of theme-park experience.
"I don’t even think he visited theme parks prior to taking the helm of our company, due to his fear of roller coasters," one post said. "What made the Board so excited to have him become our CEO, I don’t know, because there’s nothing worse for a company than installing a CEO who genuinely doesn’t understand a company and it’s product, which I’ve said before many times."
During a Feb. 22 call with analysts, Bassoul said that he has seven children, so "as you can imagine, I have spent a fair amount of time and money at theme parks over the years."
On Aug. 6, the company said that both attendance and revenue were down for the second quarter.
Net income dropped 36% to $45 million, while revenue fell 5% to $435 million. Attendance tumbled 22% during the quarter.
Chief Financial Officer Gary Mick, a former group president for Middleby, said the attendance drop "was related to the elimination of free tickets and low-margin product offerings, coupled with increased pricing into a market that had become accustomed to discounts."
'Daycare Center for Teenagers'
Bassoul stoked controversy during the earnings call with analysts when he discussed how the company had "discounted too much."
"So, we only got the discounter or we became a day-care center for teenagers," he said, according to a transcript of the call. "It was a cheap day-care center for teenagers during breaks and the summers."
Bassoul also said he was "migrating a little bit from what I call the Kmart, Walmart (WMT) to maybe the Target (TGT) customers, if I want to say that."
Those comments riled up some seriously bad mojo on social media.
"did the six flags ceo just blatantly spew racist garbage all over a company call," one person tweeted. "GET HIM OUT/"
"imagine if people on the lower end of middle class could afford to go to a theme park," another tweet read. "terrifying, right? thankfully the CEO of six flags is here to make sure that never happens again."
"If you disagree with his comments, boycott his parks and he’ll accomplish what they need to without even changing a thing!" another person said.
Analysts were not happy with the company's earnings. KeyBanc Brett Andress called the results "indefensible" as he downgraded Six Flags to sector weight from overweight with no price target.
Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Woronka slashed his price target to $38 from $56 while affirming a buy rating on the shares.
He cited "clearly disappointing" results and said that management's confirmation that attendance is still running down 35% versus 2019 levels "dashed any hopes" that Q2 represented a trough.
Woronka said current levels showed investors have "completely written off prospects for a turnaround in 2022 and [are] implicitly taking a bleak view of 2023."
He added that a path to regaining investor confidence "exists, but is narrowing."
The Reddit posts end by calling upon investors to demand Bassoul's removal.
"Investors, we ask you to hold the board accountable and demand a change in leadership," one poster said. "Cut your losses and sell every share in Six Flags if they fail to do so. We are capable of providing you with an excellent ROI, but not while Selim is in charge."
