Board of Directors

Mr. Snyder has served as Chairman of the Board of the Company since December 2005. Mr. Snyder is an experienced manager of venue-based businesses. Since July 1999, Mr. Snyder has been the Chairman and Principal Owner of the Washington Redskins franchise of the National Football League and FedExField, the team’s wholly-owned 92,000-seat stadium. As one of his key strategies in managing the Washington Redskins, he expanded Redskins sponsorship revenues from $4 million to $48 million and developed significant concession relationships with various vendors through which it sold all concession equipment to Centerplate Food Distribution Company for $16 million, which enabled the Redskins to use the proceeds to pay down its debt. The per capita food spending of Redskins’ customers nearly doubled since Mr. Snyder acquired the team. Mr. Snyder has transformed the franchise into one of the most valuable franchises in U.S. sports (according to the Forbes magazine) at approximately $1.5 billion, nearly doubling its annual revenues since he acquired the team. Mr. Snyder was also founder and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Snyder Communications, Inc., an advertising and marketing company formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange and which had over $1 billion in annual sales. In September of 2000, Snyder Communications, Inc. was successfully sold to Havas Advertising, S.A. for approximately $2.3 billion. Mr. Snyder is Chairman of the Board of dick clark productions, inc., Managing Member of Red Zebra Broadcasting, LLC, which owns several radio stations in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, and a member of the Board of Directors of Johnny Rockets Group, Inc. He is also Managing Member of RedZone Capital Management Company, LLC, a private equity firm. Mr. Snyder is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of inventive Health, Inc.

Mark Shapiro is President and Chief Executive Officer of Six Flags, Inc., the world’s largest regional theme park company, a role he assumed in December 2005 and to which he brings extensive expertise in consumer entertainment, brand building, marketing and programming.

Shapiro has worked to refocus and re-energize the Six Flags brand — making it more family-friendly, while still maintaining its signature reputation for record-breaking thrill rides.  The strategy is paying off.  Six Flags has recorded all-time high guest satisfaction scores and broadened its product offerings through the introduction of rides and themed areas for younger children based on popular franchises like Thomas the Tank Engine and The Wiggles, considered the most popular children’s entertainers in the world.  Inspired by the 25 million guests who visit Six Flags’ network of 20 parks, Shapiro developed a Corporate Alliance Division to attract premium consumer brands like Papa John’s, Nintendo, Mars Snackfood and Johnny Rockets.  Such initiatives have resulted in a 20% increase in revenue per guest and Corporate Sponsorship and Licensing has more than tripled from $16 million to $59 million in just 3 years.

 
Shapiro has also spearheaded Six Flags’ foray into international development, recently announcing an historic agreement with Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding, to develop the first exclusive Six Flags theme park outside of North America — Six Flags DUBAILAND®.  Additionally, the company has entered into a partnership with Oryx Holdings to develop a Six Flags branded location in Qatar Entertainment City.  These projects are the first of several Six Flags venues to be built across the Arab world.

The Six Flags entertainment portfolio continues to grow and diversify under Shapiro’s leadership.  In 2007, the company acquired Dick Clark Productions, a leading independent producer of such perennial hits as the Golden Globe Awards, the American Music Awards, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, the Academy of Country Music Awards and So You Think You Can Dance.  Six Flags has management oversight of the company, exploring logical synergies within its stable of parks to create a fully integrated entertainment platform.

Shapiro is a partner with Tom Cruise in the actor’s production company and was an Executive Producer of United Artists’ 2008 film, “Valkyrie.”

Before joining Six Flags in 2005, Shapiro spent 12 years at ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, where he bore significant responsibility for many of the sports and entertainment properties that built the television network into one of the world’s strongest multi-media brands.  During his tenure, he garnered 16 Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards.

Shapiro served as ESPN’s Executive Vice President, Programming and Production, a position he assumed in September 2002.  In this role, Shapiro was responsible for the development, acquisition, and scheduling of all programming for ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPN Radio, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD, and oversaw all remote and studio production for ESPN’s domestic and international entities, including the company’s engineering and technical operations.  His production responsibilities included ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN Radio, and ESPN International’s worldwide networks.  In 2002, Shapiro initiated the company's expansion into original proprietary programming with the launch of ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE), which encompassed the X Games, ESPY Awards, Tele-pics, ESPN Outdoors, including BASS and the Great Outdoor Games.  EOE also debuted the company's first dramatic series, Playmakers, which was awarded a 2003 American Film Institute Award for its contribution to America's cultural legacy.

Shapiro was coordinating producer of ESPN’s Emmy and Peabody Award-winning SportsCentury: 50 Greatest Athletes series from January 1997 to December 1999.

Prior to ESPN, Shapiro worked in various positions for NBC Sports from 1989-92.  He began as an intern for the network’s SportsWorld series (1989), before being promoted to production assistant for a variety of events and shows, including the NBA Finals, the Super Bowl, Wimbledon, NFL Live, and the Breeders’ Cup (1990-91).  In 1991 and 1992 he worked on NBC’s coverage of Notre Dame football as an associate producer, a role he held for the network’s coverage of gymnastics during the 1992 Olympics from Barcelona.

Shapiro serves on the board of directors for the Tribune Company, Live Nation and Junior Achievement of New York City.  He is also a member of the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and the Abu Dhabi Investment House Advisory Board.

Mr. Andrews has served as a Director of the Company since January 2006. Since December 2007, Mr. Andrews has been the President of SLM Corporation, more commonly known as Sallie Mae, and from May 2007 through December 2007, Mr. Andrews also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Sallie Mae. From January 2006 through May 2007, Mr. Andrews served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sallie Mae, and from February 2003 through January 2006, Mr. Andrews served as Executive Vice President, Accounting & Risk Management of Sallie Mae. Prior to joining Sallie Mae, Mr. Andrews was a partner at Arthur Andersen from September 1984 to February 2003.

Mr. Jennings has served as a Director of the Company since January 2006. Since September 1996, Mr. Jennings has been the Managing Partner and co-founder of Generation Partners, a $325 million private investment firm that acquires and provides growth capital to companies primarily in the business and information services, healthcare and media & entertainment sectors. Prior to founding Generation Partners, Mr. Jennings was a Partner at Centre Partners, a private equity firm affiliated with Lazard Freres, and prior to that, he was employed at Goldman Sachs & Co. Through Generation and predecessor firms, he has invested in more than 50 companies and has served on the Board of Directors of 23 companies, including inVentiv Health, Virtual Radiologic Corporation, Post Education, Sterling Infosystems, Agility Recovery Solutions and Medvance Institute.