see six flags over texas . six flags entertainment corporation type public traded as nyse six industry theme park operator founded august 5 1961 ; 55 years ago 1961 08 05 headquarters grand prairie texas u.s. number of locations 13 area served united states mexico canada key people jim reid anderson executive chairman john m. duffey president and ceo revenue us 1.264 billion 2015 1 operating income us 160.01 million 2014 net income us 114.03 million 2014 number of employees 1 900 full time ; 27 000 seasonal website https www.sixflags.com six flags entertainment corporation or simply six flags is an amusement park corporation based in the united states with properties in the us canada and mexico . it is the largest amusement park company based on the number of properties it owns and the fifth most popular in terms of attendance . 2 the company maintains 18 properties throughout north america consisting of theme parks thrill parks water parks and family entertainment centers . in 2009 six flags properties hosted 23.9 million guests . 3 the company was founded in texas and took its name from its first property six flags over texas . the company maintains a corporate office in midtown manhattan new york city and its headquarters are in grand prairie texas . on june 13 2009 the corporation filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection 4 5 and it successfully exited the restructuring on may 3 2010 . 6 contents 1 history 1.1 beginnings 1.2 growth and acquisitions 1.3 history of premier parks 1.4 acquisition of six flags by premier parks 1.5 asset sales and shareholder revolt 1.6 bankruptcy 1.7 emergence from bankruptcy 1.8 2010 present 2 marketing efforts 2.1 tv commercials 2.2 licensing with other brands and companies 2.3 other assets 3 current properties 3.1 amusement parks 3.2 water parks 3.2.1 outdoor 3.2.1.1 included with admission 3.2.1.2 separate admission property 3.2.2 indoor 4 upcoming properties 4.1 amusement parks 4.2 water parks 5 former properties 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit beginnings edit original six flags train still in operation 2007 the name refers to the flags of the six different nations that have governed texas spain france mexico the republic of texas the united states and the confederate states of america . 7 the original park was and still is split into separate regions such as the spain and mexico section which featured spanish themed rides attractions and buildings . the six flags chain originated in 1959 with the creation of the great southwest corporation by angus g. wynne and other investors . construction of six flags over texas started in 1960 and the park was opened the next year for a short 45 day season . the first park initially featured a native american village a gondola ride a railroad some wild west shows a stagecoach ride and skull island a pirate themed adventure attraction . there was also an excursion inspired by the historical la salle expeditions in the late 1600s called lasalle s river adventure aboard french riverboats through a wilderness full of animated puppets . 8 9 over time all of those attractions except for the railroad would be replaced by others such as roller coasters swing rides log flumes and shoot the chute rides as well as an observation tower . growth and acquisitions edit the original park in arlington between dallas and fort worth was sold in 1966 to a subsidiary of the pennsylvania railroad which was actively pursuing non railroad investments in an effort to diversify its sources of income . in 1968 the pennsylvania railroad merged with the new york central railroad to form penn central corp. with the new owners came a more abundant supply of capital for geographic expansion and park additions . six flags opened six flags over georgia in 1967 and six flags over mid america in 1971 which would along with six flags over texas be the only three parks that would be constructed by the company . the company continued to grow by acquiring independent parks . six flags purchased astroworld in houston texas in 1975 great adventure in jackson new jersey in 1977 and magic mountain in valencia california in 1979 . these purchases were followed by penn central selling assets to bally manufacturing in 1982 . in 1984 the great america theme park in gurnee illinois was acquired from the marriott hotel chain . also in 1984 as a result of its acquisition of great america six flags acquired the rights to time warner warner bros. looney tunes animated characters for use in six flags properties . bally surrendered control of the chain to wesray capital corporation in a 1987 leveraged buyout . time warner quickly began to gain more leverage in the company gaining a 19.5 % stake in six flags in 1990 and then 50 % in 1991 with the remaining shares of the company being split by blackstone group and wertheim schroder & company . time warner purchased the remaining stake in six flags in 1993 changing the company s name from six flags corp. to six flags theme parks inc. in 1996 six flags began to manage fiesta texas theme park in san antonio texas and purchased the park from usaa in 1998 . history of premier parks edit premier parks originally operated as the tierco group inc. an oklahoma based real estate company . the company purchased the frontier city theme park in oklahoma city in 1982 for 1.2 million although tierco had no intention of entering the amusement park business . company officials described frontier city as beat up and run down ; they planned to demolish it subdivide the land and build a shopping center . however given an oil bust in oklahoma developers lost interest in converting the park into a shopping center . in 1984 tierco hired gary story as general manager of frontier city and sunk about 13 million into improving the park . as the new head of frontier city he quadrupled the park s attendance and revenues . under his leadership two rides a ticket booth sales office and a petting zoo were added to the park . food service improved . in 1988 tierco shifted its strategic direction to amusement parks . it sold much of its property in the late 1980s generating capital to reinvest in frontier city . as this reinvestment paid off more capital became available creating further growth . by 1991 tierco opened white water waterpark in oklahoma city oklahoma the name later became white water bay . the company realized the key to boosting a park s attendance was to add new and exciting rides and make it family friendly . tierco acquired the financially troubled wild world in largo maryland in 1992 and later changed that park s name to adventure world . with a 500 000 investment tierco expanded wild world s kiddie section and remodeled its buildings to give the park a tropical look and feel . story was promoted to executive vice president after the purchase of wild world . in 1994 he was promoted again to president and chief operating officer coo . more flat rides and two roller coasters were added to that park . since tierco was on its way to becoming a premier regional theme park operator in 1994 it changed its name to premier parks inc. kieran e. burke chairman and chief executive officer ceo noted that the new name signified the beginning of a new era for the company . in the second half of the 1990s premier picked up speed . in 1995 the company acquired these funtime parks inc. properties geauga lake near cleveland ohio wyandot lake in powell ohio darien lake near buffalo new york and lake compounce in bristol connecticut . in 1996 premier added to its portfolio buying elitch gardens in denver colorado the waterworld usa waterparks in sacramento and concord california riverside park in agawam massachusetts and great escape and splashwater kingdom in lake george new york . premier immediately sold the lake compounce park to kennywood in pennsylvania . geauga lake wyandot lake and adventure world included water parks while frontier city was 14.8 miles away from white water bay that required separate admission . riverside added one just before being sold . premier parks in 1995 and 1996 added water parks to darien lake lake compounce immediately before the kennywood sale elitch gardens and great escape . premier went public in 1996 and raised nearly 70 million through an initial offering at 18 per share . the company planned to use the money to expand its ten parks and acquire others . in 1997 premier purchased kentucky kingdom in louisville and marine world near san francisco . a second public offering at 29 per share raised an additional 2 million . nearly 8.8 million people visited premier s parks in 1996 . premier added amusement park rides and roller coasters to marine world in 1998 . acquisition of six flags by premier parks edit six flags theme parks inc. was purchased in whole on april 1 1998 from time warner by premier parks for 1.86 billion . premier began to apply the six flags name to several smaller parks that the company had already owned darien lake elitch gardens kentucky kingdom and adventure world . in 1999 premier parks purchased warner bros. movie world germany and the yet to be built warner bros. movie world madrid from warner bros. . as part of the acquisition premier parks had the opportunity to open more european theme parks with warner bros. movie world branding . warner bros. movie world on the gold coast australia was not part of the deal . the same transaction saw premier parks obtain exclusive rights for warner bros. licensing in europe and latin america in addition to their existing rights for the united states and canada . 10 in 2000 premier parks assumed the six flags theme parks inc. name and continued re branding its parks including the geauga lake park into six flags ohio and riverside park to six flags new england . six flags began a vigorous expansion attempting to branch out internationally acquiring numerous properties across the usa plus the walibi chain and the historic belgian park bellewaerde in europe la ronde in montreal canada and reino aventura in mexico . three of those parks were re branded as six flags parks walibi flevo became six flags holland walibi wavre became six flags belgium and reino aventura became six flags mexico . in 2001 six flags acquired the former seaworld ohio from anheuser busch merged it with the adjacent six flags ohio and re branded the combined park as six flags worlds of adventure . the park was positioned to compete against northern ohio s cedar point . asset sales and shareholder revolt edit on august 29 2005 six flags new orleans was severely damaged by hurricane katrina in 2004 six flags began to close and sell properties in an effort to help alleviate the company s growing debt . on march 10 six flags sold its european parks with the exception of the movie world park in madrid spain to star parks group . the madrid park was sold back to time warner and renamed parque warner madrid . in april six flags determined that the investment required to keep worlds of adventure competitive with cedar point would be too great leading to that park being sold to cedar fair . these sales raised 345 million in an effort to relieve six flags massive debt . 11 in 2005 six flags endured even more turmoil . some of the company s largest investors notably bill gates s cascade investments which then owned about 11 % of six flags and daniel snyder s red zone llc which owned 12 % demanded change . on august 17 2005 red zone began a proxy battle to