CFO or COO to succeed CEO

So they brought in someone from outside of the company? That sounds pretty interesting.

Not really, that's typical for any company.

Mitt Romney would do great as a Cedar Fair CEO. :)

Makes me wonder what Tom Tracy did wrong to have to leave the Board of Directors???? If I were making 6 figures to sit on a board and only had to go to 5 meetings a year and approve all of Dicks ideas, I would have stayed on the board. Was Tom actually standing up to Dick? Was he tired of the same old BS? Is that why he left ? That seems to be a common practice lately in the Cedar Fair executive order.

I doubt Cedar Fair pays their board that much. I assume that's public info somewhere, but that seems high for a company that size.

Tracy retired from Arthur Anderson in 1989. He isn't a young guy. I suppose there could have been more to it...but I'm guessing he was just ready to let go.

He was 70 in 2002 which would make him 75 today. That is up there, even for a member of a Board of Directors. Disney actually instituted a maximum age a few years back of, I think, 73.

Actually Jeff, that info came from a very reliable source in fulltime management who works in the finance building. No kidding. I about crapped when I heard that info.

Chief Wahoo said:

Disney actually instituted a maximum age a few years back of, I think, 73.

Slighlty irrelevant, but that age is just for board members, or does it apply to more people than that?

I did a little more digging. As of 2006 Board members made 25K/year plus $1,500/meeting attended + 2000 unit options. That ain't bad.

Oh, and in '06 the salaries of the top three were established at...

Dick- Not less than $1.2 million base.

Jack- Not less than $600,000 base

Peter- Not less than $400,000 base

That seems disproportionately skewed toward the top spot. Second in command makes half what Dick makes? That's insane!

Not really when all he has to do is say "yes Dick" all day.

Oh, and it took a little longer for the Disney Board members but:

$65,000/ year plus $10,000 per year for each committee they sit on and 6,000 share options per year. Bigger company and all I guess.

Wal Mart Board members were at $60,000/year.

That's more in line with what I expected. Six figures is way too much.

The real kicker is that many folks who sit on Boards of Directors sit on multiple Boards. That is when the money starts getting interesting.

Chief Wahoo said:
Disney actually instituted a maximum age a few years back of, I think, 73.

How are they able to do that? We can't even get unsafe 90 year old drivers off the road because of age discrimination. (Not saying every 90 year old is unsafe on the road, some may still be quite sharp)

Disney is a private company. It's a lot easier for them to limit than it is for the government (state, federal, or local) to do so.

This just in to the news room................The Director of HR and the Director of Purchasing are quitting, they gave their notice according to Bob Highlander in the Marina. Why have all of these managers or directors quit? Are they fed up with current upper management bad decisions?

According to Highlander these folks have left or are leaving:
Candy - director in Operations 2006
Frank - manager in Maintenance 2006
Rick - manager in Maintenance 2006 (but then came back???)
Gary - manager in Phone Services 2007
Nicole - manager in Admissions
Gary - director in Maintenance 2007
Bob - director in Park Operations 2007
Marge - director in Live Shows
Amanda - director in Human Resources 2008
Marge - director in Purchasing 2008

Who is really running the joint?

Some of those people retired, not quit for another job. To correct your post, Nicole was not a manager. She was just a supervisor who was hired at Hard Rock Park.

Just because people leave Cedar Point does not mean they are leaving because of the way its operated. But rather they leave for better opportunities. Some of which don't even go on to have anything to do with the amusement industry at all. I know a few managers that left to pursue their degrees , such as teaching.

My bad, I just thought you leave a job because you are not happy. I have never had a fulltime job yet so I guess when I get out of school and join the work force I will understand more.

Well that certainly shined a big spot-light on some questions.