Download File - The Six Flags Museum

The Dallas Morning News
Sunday, August 20, 1989
Business is pleasure for president of Six Flags
Martha Sheridan
Larry Cochran didn't choose the adrenaline business. It chose him.
The president and chief executive officer of Six Flags Corp . began his career in 1961
running the now-defunct Astrolift ride at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. At the time,
he intended to get his civil engineering degree.
Instead, he pursued a route up the corporate ladder. At 49, the CEO still promises himself
he will get that college degree.
The amusement park industry is a feel-good business. Rides literally get the adrenaline
flowing with hairpin turns and four-second free falls. Patriotic shows, landscaped
grounds and a fantasyland atmosphere are calculated to lift one's spirits.
"I fell in love with the business from my first week,' he said. "I'd say 98 to 99 percent of
the time, every morning when I wake up I'm looking forward to going to work.'
Some 60 million people attend the corporation's seven parks in six states each year;
employees number 30,000. Mr. Cochran moved the corporate headquarters from Chicago
to Arlington in 1982. He and his wife, Pat, were ready to come home after living in
Atlanta, St. Louis, Houston, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Because Mr. Cochran's job requires frequent trips, the convenient location of Dallas ort
Worth International Airport was an important selling point for Arlington, he said.
Although the window of his office affords a view of the Arlington park, Mr. Cochran
leaves overseeing daily operations to his staff. He refers to a notebook for local
employment figures (225 full-time employees; 2,200 seasonal workers) and notes that
Sea World's opening in San Antonio "hurt us.'
Attendance dropped by 200,000 last year -- with 90,000 of that attributed to Sea World,
he said. Still, attendance was not shabby -- 2.5 million.
Mr. Cochran doesn't have to consult his notes to respond to a question about the
relationship between Arlington's economic outlook and business at Six Flags.
"Every year we are tending to try to equalize the fact that the city does more for us than

we do for them,' he said. Mr. Cochran then adds three points:
Six Flags brings Arlington "taxes in the $3 million range.'
"Every dollar turns hands seven or eight times,' he said, and Six Flags visitors are likely
to "drop some of that disposable income they bring here' at local hotels and restaurants.
Six Flags does business with a variety of area establishments, such as cleaners and a
garbage disposal firm.
Although the area economy has been dealt some tough blows in recent years, which the
Arlington park has felt, "If oil gets back up to $22 (a barrel) and holding, you'll see us
rebounding fast,' Mr. Cochran said. "No place offers what Arlington offers, as far as
entertaining yourself.'
Wet 'N Wild, the Texas Rangers and Arlington's proximity to Dallas and Fort Worth
combine to make a "dynamic machine for the metroplex,' he said.
It's clear that Mr. Cochran learned a few things about boosterism as Missouri's
commissioner of tourism in 1976. But the toughest lessons of his career came in 1984. He
was indicted for manslaughter in the deaths of eight teen-agers who were killed when fire
swept through a haunted house in the Toms River, N.J., Six Flags Great Adventure park.
He was general manager of the park from 1977 to September 1982.
"It was hell on Earth,' he said. "And it's something that I have to live with every day.
Something like this is very tough when you've lived a good life. I have three kids. I'm a
people person. I've never really even slapped my kids.
"And you wake up one morning and criminal charges have been filed on you.'
A 13-week jury trial ensued. The company insisted there had been no wrongdoing.
"The state's contention was that sprinklers in the building would have saved lives. The
courthouse we were in didn't have them,' he said, adding that sprinklers were not required
in New Jersey at the time.
"Did we make a mistake? In retrospect, I wish we had done things differently. But at the
time, did we do anything wrong?'
Mr. Cochran said he can look in the mirror and answer with an unqualified no. The jury
agreed: Mr. Cochran was acquitted.
The state's investigation opened up his business records, including canceled checks and
building permits, he said. In a speech to Rice University master of business graduates this
year, Mr. Cochran shared the moral of his story: "Whatever you do, you're going to be
tempted. But as a business person, you have to plot your course and charter it as you go.

"I've always tried to charter mine on the good side -- and thank God I did, because when
this unfortunate thing happened I was able to look the judge and the attorneys in the eyes
and say, "Guys, I haven't done anything wrong.' And I can still say that today.'
Mr. Cochran credits Charlie Thompson with guiding him. Mr. Thompson was vice
president of the Arlington park when Mr. Cochran moved from Astrolift operator to ride
supervisor.
"He was very concerned with detail,' Mr. Cochran said. "He wanted the park to be clean,
for the employees to smile and be courteous. He was very open. He never closed his
door. He helped mold my style.'
Mr. Thompson, now retired, lives in Arizona.
Many members of the Six Flags management team started at the bottom. Mr. Cochran
does not have an educational background in business, which may explain his relaxed
approach to life as a CEO.
"I never try to be something that I'm not,' he said. "I don't think of myself as CEO of a
company. I am just one of the guys trying to make Six Flags successful.
"I'm not hung up on titles. I like to be a team player -- and the captain when things
happen and we need a captain.'
Many key Six Flags employees have settled in Colleyville, where Mr. Cochran lives.
"We play golf together,' he said. "I hope they accept me as someone who takes over the
reins when it needs to be done.'
Six Flags Corp . is taking the adrenaline business international. It is investing "sweat
equity' in a Marbella, Spain, amusement park. The $100 million park is scheduled to open
in 1992.
Six Flags is handling the park's design and construction and will contract to manage it for
10 years. In five more years, perhaps, Six Flags Corp . will be ready to participate in a
joint venture overseas, Mr. Cochran said. The company has helped design amusement
parks in Venezuela, Argentina, Holland, France and West Germany.
"We are constantly looking for other opportunities -- Singapore, Bangkok, Malaysia. We
have seen some good things in Taiwan. There's a wide middle class without lots to do,'
Mr. Cochran said.
A day in the life of this CEO begins at the office at 8 a.m. He is usually home by 8 p.m.
After 20 years of working weekends and holidays, he guards his weekends off. But even
when he's at play, the adrenaline business is on his mind.

"When I'm playing golf, I'm worrying about what's happening in one of the parks,' Mr.
Cochran said. "When we're watching TV or a video, I'm a million miles away, worrying.
"I have a hard time turning loose of the business. I'm in love with it. It is my livelihood
and my hobby.'
Does the term workaholic fit?
"A workaholic type totally forgets his family and friends,' Mr. Cochran said. "But I'm
more of a worryaholic.'